6493: BHM 2009.

Must admit, did not love these ads at first. It’s a standard practice to commission Black artists for BHM. Will Kadir Nelson and Musiq Soulchild get work from Coke later in the year on a non-BHM assignment?

Anyway, Craig Brimm of Kiss My Black Ads made poignant and provocative comments on the series. Plus, check out this interview with Nelson.

And somebody please hire the artists for non-BHM assignments.

6492: Early Exits.

Throwing eggs with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• The Mayor of Los Alamitos in California (pictured above) is resigning after taking heat for emailing a racist message about President Barack Obama. The email depicted watermelons on the White House lawn and a headline reading, “No Easter egg hunt this year.” The mayor insisted he had no idea connecting Black people and watermelons constituted a racial stereotype. Which means the moron will probably land a job in the advertising industry.

• Reports indicate Michael Vick will serve the remainder of his jail sentence from home starting in May, as there are no vacancies at a halfway house. The former NFL star pleaded guilty in 2007 to running a dog-fighting operation. Vick won’t be allowed to leave his home without approval from a probation officer; plus, he’ll wear an electronic monitoring device. The device should be fashioned to resemble a dog collar.

6491: BHM 2009.

Not sure if this is a BHM or diversity ad. Pretty sure it’s patronizing pap.

6490: Delete “Agency Culture” From Ad Lexicon.

The story below appeared at Adweek.com, written by a consultant specializing in agency reviews and searches. Scan through it and check out the brief MultiCultClassics commentary immediately following.

The Importance of Agency Culture

By Lorraine Rojek

In stressed economic times, an agency might think an assessment of its organizational culture is inconsequential. It is, after all, a bit of a soft topic. Yet there are four reasons why an understanding of organizational culture is an imperative if shops wish to survive and even thrive.

1. A distinctive culture is probably the most powerful way in which an agency can establish “chemistry” and display a real point of difference.


As advertisers seek potential partners, they look for agencies that stand out from the pack and offer a good fit between client and agency teams. Many clients consider “chemistry” to be essential.

How well an agency can articulate its organizational culture is a source of competitive advantage. How well the agency is positioned vis-à-vis its competitive set—with a clear communication of its value proposition—is essential when wooing prospective clients. An agency’s true points of differentiation are often grounded in its vision, service standards, creativity and other behaviors that are reinforced either formally or informally within the shop itself.

Knowing who you are and what is important to you is a fundamental step before an agency of any size or discipline can effectively solicit new business in the marketplace.

2. “Culture” is part of the promise that an agency makes to its clients. If that culture is not clearly understood internally, agency employees will not be able to fulfill that promise.

Articulating an agency’s culture and value system for the benefit of employees is critical. Beyond platitudes, agency leaders should define the specific behaviors that are of value to the organization and those that are not—with clear definition of values like risk-taking, innovation, responsiveness, collaboration, taking initiative and teamwork.

Cultural fit is an effective screening criteria for new hires and a training mandate for others. Individuals who align within their own respective organizational cultures are likely to be more productive and successful.

3. Clients admire shops with clear cultures. Having a dialog from the outset about cultural differences between client and agency sets expectations, creates alignment and helps to avoid problems down the road.

For clients, it’s a big deal to entrust the right agency to bring its brand to life externally in a strategically insightful and creatively compelling way. That requires the agency to work effectively within the client organization. Often, the pair must work together to build the case for the investment in advertising or to pursue a new strategic direction, creative idea or altered media mix.

For agencies, working with each of their client’s unique corporate cultures is essential to fulfill expectations, smooth out difficult relationship issues and stabilize the agency’s current base of business.

4. Agencies should evaluate prospective clients and new business opportunities through a cultural lens.

Despite a desire to be active in a specific category or engaged with a marquee brand, agencies should target clients with which they have some degree of cultural compatibility, based in part on their understanding of their own sweet spot and value proposition.

The simple truth is that people seek comfort and find solace in their harmonious relationships with others when the world at large seems brutal. And conversely, people are incrementally stressed by relationships that do not work.

Lorraine Rojek is president and founder of the Rojek Consulting Group.

This perspective actually makes a lot of sense. For any other business besides ours.

Holding companies have sucked the uniqueness out of most shops. Sister agencies appear to be, well, sisters. Bottom lines trump taglines. If you sense sameness in the work, it’s primarily because all agencies look alike. And think alike. And act alike. The industry that used to transform parity products via positioning and USPs has become generic itself. Swirl in a tradition of White men hiring White men and everything becomes vanilla.

In the world of advertising, agency culture is an oxymoron.

6489: Flunking Out.

Not sure what the hell Uncle Phil is doing in this spot. But the message doesn’t deserve a passing grade.

6488: Sorry Statements.

Apologies not being accepted in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Rev. Al Sharpton refuses to accept New York Post Chairman Rupert Murdoch’s apology for the infamous monkey cartoon. Now Sharpton is attacking Murdoch’s News Corp., targeting federal waivers that permit Murdoch to own two New York TV stations along with the New York Post. Sharpton met with Federal Communications Commission officials to discuss the matter. Any potential investigation should be run by Lancelot Link.

• JPMorgan Chase & Company is poised to dump 12,000 people as it swallows Washington Mutual. Whoo-Hoo!

6487: Culturally Clueless FAQs—Number 9.

Question: During my gazillion decades in the business, I have never witnessed a single instance of racism. People are hired for their talent. Period. How can you possibly accuse me of being a racist?

Answer: On Madison Avenue, racism is such a polarizing concept. And it seems as if calling someone a racist is the offensive equivalent of using the N-word.

Yet most veteran adfolks insisting they’ve not seen one example of discrimination also admit they’ve not seen one minority in an executive position. There’s something screwy going on here.

We could split hairs by opting for terms like exclusionary or culturally clueless. Additionally, you could read MultiCultClassics’ inaugural essay to identify the various types of bias. Some might argue the global dilemma is not race-related at all; rather, it involves outdated and limited recruitment practices. But ultimately, whether the mess is rooted in faulty processes or blissful ignorance or hardcore hatred, the end result remains the same. Everyone recognizes the dearth of diversity. Plus, liberals and bigots alike are quick to admit, “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

So get to work. Put aside the CSI equipment and quit worrying about the causes. Stop labeling each other with nasty presumptions. Move beyond obsessing over the mistakes that got us to this place.

Focus on generating and executing solutions instead. It’s time to realize creating diversity demands, well, diversity. Everyone must collectively commit to laboring together.

Change and progress should not be so difficult to achieve. Unless, of course, you’re a stone-cold racist.

Change has come to America. But it took a detour around Madison Avenue. While citizens have adopted phrases like “post-racial,” the advertising industry operates in a pre-Civil Rights time warp. Whenever the topics of diversity and inclusion appear, ad executives consistently display stunning ignorance. MultiCultClassics has sought to address the issues in the past. However, the matters have evolved along with society, despite Madison Avenue’s retarded development. As a public service, this blog will answer a series of Frequently Asked Questions to enlighten the asses… er, masses.

6486: BHM 2009.

Um, does Wachovia really have a long-term future?

6485: Trust Me, The Typical Adman Is Pathetic.

The truth is, the problem with TNT series Trust Me has nothing to do with the cultural cluelessness of its creators. Or their limited imagination and subpar writing skills.

No, the core issue is the lack of inherent drama in the advertising business. Think about it. The few successful TV programs set in adland environments made the industry secondary—or even tertiary—to the main stories. Thirtysomething and Mad Men have spotlighted human conflict and emotion well ahead of hatching campaigns. Hell, Bewitched realized hocus-pocus hijinks trump commercial productions. Haven’t most of us watched focus groups that were more compelling than this dreck?

Trust Me clings to the delusional belief that audiences will be interested in our craft. It doesn’t help that the main characters are mediocre adpeople, and their agency is ordinary at best. Focusing on a dull job and hackneyed executives leads to a boring viewing experience.

Reports indicate ratings are tumbling like, well, the advertising industry. And like the advertising industry, the only hope for Trust Me involves executing radical changes. If the show’s creators hold true to their professional backgrounds—and White male arrogance—don’t bet on seeing any attempt to improve.

In the end, Trust Me remains painfully accurate on so many levels.

6484: Culturally Clueless FAQs—Number 8.

Question: Why should I get involved—Isn’t diversity the responsibility of Human Resources Directors and Chief Diversity Officers?

Answer: Bringing diversity to the advertising industry is a monumental endeavor, and success demands that everyone actively participates in the process.

Let’s be honest. HR Directors and CDOs have never made the final calls on new employees. These professionals certainly play critical roles in the drama, but the rest of us probably have greater responsibilities.

Ad executives with hiring authority must ensure that all searches push for candidates beyond the standard talent pool. Don’t fall back on routine submissions from the same headhunters. Stop limiting the quest to individuals from specific schools or agencies. Resist the urge to recruit clones.

HR Directors and CDOs can aid in the effort. However, the people with the last word should be the first to fight for inclusion.

Passing the buck is just plain irresponsible. Cowardly too.

Change has come to America. But it took a detour around Madison Avenue. While citizens have adopted phrases like “post-racial,” the advertising industry operates in a pre-Civil Rights time warp. Whenever the topics of diversity and inclusion appear, ad executives consistently display stunning ignorance. MultiCultClassics has sought to address the issues in the past. However, the matters have evolved along with society, despite Madison Avenue’s retarded development. As a public service, this blog will answer a series of Frequently Asked Questions to enlighten the asses… er, masses.

6483: BHM 2009.

Do all BHM ads look alike?

6482: Cartoons, Cameras And Coins.

Evening News in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• New York Post Chairman Rupert Murdoch posted an apology for the infamous monkey cartoon. Proclaiming “the buck stops with me,” Murdoch called the publishing of the cartoon “a mistake.” He went on to say, “We ran a cartoon that offended many people. Today I want to personally apologize to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted. It was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately, it was interpreted by many as such.” Then the paper went back to its routine insults of Michael Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton and all rap artists.

• Ritz Camera has filed for bankruptcy. Hey, the joint’s advertising has been creatively bankrupt for years.

• Jazz icon Duke Ellington is the first Black person to appear on a coin from the U.S. mint. Ellington’s image will be on the latest line of state-themed quarters. Pocket change has come to America.

6481: Life’s Not Fair—At A Diversity Job Fair.

From AdAge.com…

Job Fair Gone Bad
Why the Ad Industry Still Has a Long Way to Go in Being Truly Diverse

By Mansi Trivedi

Diversity. I have always struggled with embracing this term because it is very often used too loosely and used to fulfill a need. “We are an equal-opportunity company.” No, you are not. You favor cupcakes over capabilities. You pamper already bloated egos. You love the self-promoters.

So don’t talk about diversity and look toward African-Americans or Asians. Talk about diversity like it is a great thing and like it means you’d be getting cultural galore from people who have actually lived it.

The Advertising Industry Diversity Job Fair and Leadership Conference did everything they shouldn’t have. The panelists were smart and came from “diverse” backgrounds, but recommended having a blog, using Twitter and avoiding sending friend requests to random people on Facebook. And unfortunately, this was my biggest and only takeaway. And I yawned.

Desperation our only weapon
After the long panel discussion ended, the gray-suited advertising aspirants flocked toward the booths. I stood in line for half an hour only to be told by an agency to apply online. The agency representative could not pronounce my name, and did not even try to. She looked at my papers and the other people around while I talked to her about New York weather and the industry. “Oh, we get so many of these, times have changed now, so apply online,” she said. I walked over to another long line of unfriendly applicants. I smiled and tried to strike a conversation on the current market scenario with one woman and she just smirked and looked away. While I queued to talk to another agency, the girl behind me tried to memorize my resume by leaning forward to peek at it. I offered her a copy and she made a face.

The mild discomfort had begun and it was only getting worse. Hundreds of graduates hunting for their paradise, with desperation as their weapons. I walked out with another experience of a job fair gone bad because it wasn’t about diversity or talent. Having panelists of color talking about advertising did not mean this industry was forward-thinking or culturally rich. Sadly, they’re all in denial and still print “diversity” as an accreditation.

Oh, advertising industry, you have a long way to go.

Mansi Trivedi is a graduate of VCU Brandcenter. She formerly was a strategic planner at Campbell-Ewald, Detroit.

6480: Culturally Clueless FAQs—Number 7.

Question: My agency is headquartered in Whiteville, USA. How can I be expected to hire colored people where none exist?

Answer: This seemingly legitimate question surfaces often. Additionally, even advertising executives in diverse, metropolitan areas recite a similar and related statement: I simply don’t see many and/or any minority candidates.

The truth is, adfolks in Whiteville, USA must pretty much do the same things as those in places like New York.

The answers are partly tied to Culturally Clueless FAQs—Number 6. Take a moment to review it.

First, it’s imperative that we rethink the traditional recruitment strategies. The search cannot always begin and end with our own Rolodexes and personal cultural comfort zones. Venturing outside of our time zones is possible too, as the lousy economy is encouraging everyone to consider moving. Location, location, location is no longer an excuse, excuse, excuse.

Forget where you land in Rand McNally. Determine where you’re positioned on the Darwinian chart. That is, how evolved is your corporate culture? Is your shop progressive and inviting? Do you encourage a variety of perspectives and experiences? Have you created an environment that thrives on the diversity of ideas—and the idea of diversity? Stop blaming your address and start addressing the necessary renovations to prepare your enterprise for life in the 21st century.

The candidates are out there. You just need to completely open your eyes, your minds and your agency’s doors.

Change has come to America. But it took a detour around Madison Avenue. While citizens have adopted phrases like “post-racial,” the advertising industry operates in a pre-Civil Rights time warp. Whenever the topics of diversity and inclusion appear, ad executives consistently display stunning ignorance. MultiCultClassics has sought to address the issues in the past. However, the matters have evolved along with society, despite Madison Avenue’s retarded development. As a public service, this blog will answer a series of Frequently Asked Questions to enlighten the asses… er, masses.

6479: BHM 2009.

How tacky. Walmart repurposed last year’s BHM message, replacing the photo in Grandma’s frame. Can’t wait to see how the retailer revises the image for Juneteenth and Kwanzaa.

6478: Trust Me, This Show Is Clueless.

The latest episode of TNT series Trust Me momentarily spotlighted Account Director Gordon, the only Black person in the fictional RGM agency. Seems Gordon opted to leave the shop, claiming he was “pursuing other opportunities.”

When Gordon announced his departure, inviting Mason and Conner to join him for a slice of farewell cake, Conner quipped, “Chocolate?” Conner waited for Gordon to exit before muttering in paranoia, insisting the comment was not racial.

Later, as the rest of Mason’s team learned of Gordon’s decision, one of the Young Turks joked about “the last bastion for diversity.”

In another subplot, Mason and Conner went on a commercial shoot in L.A. The two finished a spot without client or agency approval. Or a pre-pro meeting. Or a final casting session. Or a tech scout. Or a producer. Yet what was the most unbelievable part in the scenario? They filmed with a Black director.

But wait, things get even more unbelievable. It was ultimately revealed that Gordon took a job with Leo Burnett. Note the next-to-last paragraph in an earlier post on Trust Me.

6477: BHM 2009.

The Marines salute themselves for BHM.

6476: Culturally Clueless FAQs—Number 6.

Question: Isn’t it possible that Blacks simply aren’t interested in pursuing an advertising career?

Answer: This question often arises when people try to explain the dearth of dark-skinned professionals on Madison Avenue. The rationale includes suggesting the industry’s low entry-level salaries turn off Blacks, steering them towards more lucrative fields. You know, like rap music and the NBA.

Sorry, the basic premise just doesn’t compute. Let’s realize that U.S. Blacks continue to lag behind Whites in annual income. So if Blacks are indeed hunting for flashier gigs, well, they’re failing miserably.

Then again, if you consider Adland’s meager starting paychecks—and combine the findings of the Bendick and Egan Economic Consultants, Inc. report that revealed Blacks in advertising receive 20 percent less loot than Whites—then a higher-paying position even awaits at Mickey D’s. Perhaps that explains everything. The majority of potential Black ad executives chose Big Macs over Big Ideas. Quick, somebody tell Messrs. Moore and Mehri they’ve made a massive mistake.

All jokes aside, the original question is akin to asking, “Which came first, the chicken with its ass plucked clean or the egg?” Did the dearth precede the discrimination or vice versa? In this case, let’s admit it’s a no-brainer. The lack of Blacks isn’t the result of alternative opportunities; but rather, unattractive opportunities on Madison Avenue rooted in exclusivity.

At this point, the industry needs to completely overhaul its traditional recruitment tactics. Don’t count on Blacks staging The Great Migration to Mad Ave. Now we must find ways to persuade the historically rejected to buy our brand of business careers.

Titanium Lions and Gold Pencils await the adfolks capable of creating such a campaign.

Change has come to America. But it took a detour around Madison Avenue. While citizens have adopted phrases like “post-racial,” the advertising industry operates in a pre-Civil Rights time warp. Whenever the topics of diversity and inclusion appear, ad executives consistently display stunning ignorance. MultiCultClassics has sought to address the issues in the past. However, the matters have evolved along with society, despite Madison Avenue’s retarded development. As a public service, this blog will answer a series of Frequently Asked Questions to enlighten the asses… er, masses.

6475: NAACP Not Monkeying Around.

From USA TODAY…

NAACP head wants N.Y. Post editor, cartoonist axed

NEW YORK — The head of the NAACP on Saturday urged readers to boycott the New York Post, calling a cartoon that the newspaper published an invitation to assassinate President Obama.

Benjamin Todd Jealous, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, called on the tabloid to remove editor-in-chief Col Allan, as well as longtime cartoonist Sean Delonas.

Earlier this week, the newspaper apologized to anyone who might have been offended by the image printed Wednesday, which some say likens Obama to a violent chimpanzee gunned down by police in Connecticut.

Jealous said the cartoon was “an invitation to assassination.”

On Thursday, after protests by notable figures including director Spike Lee, the paper posted an editorial on its website saying the cartoon was meant to mock the federal economic stimulus bill, but “to those who were offended by the image, we apologize.”

A spokeswoman for the newspaper referred the Associated Press to the paper’s editorial when asked Saturday about the proposed NAACP boycott.

Jealous called the editorial “a half of an apology, without elaboration.”

The drawing, he said, “picks off the scabs of all the racial wounds.”

He spoke as the NAACP gathered for its annual meeting in New York, where it was founded a century ago.

NAACP officials said that if the Post does not take “serious disciplinary action,” they would reach out to organizations across the country to join them in their efforts against the tabloid.

NAACP Chairman Julian Bond called the publication of the cartoon “thoughtlessness taken to the extreme. … Anyone who is not offended by it does not have any sensitivity.”

6474: Muse’s Musings On Diversity.

From AdAge.com…

How to Win the Diversity Battle
If You Want Results, Reinvent Yourself and Spend Time Out of Your Comfort Zone

By Jo Muse

Make no bones about it: Advertising is a career for the strong of mind and spirit, and for those who think winning should occur swiftly and without great ceremony. I learned what it takes to be successful in this crazy business from my teenage years in Southwest Detroit. At least, that’s where I learned what it took to act hard, fight dirty, and win street fights with death blows and large doses of bravado. But with the problems multinational-holding-company executives are facing, it seems the masters of the advertising universe, and everything that’s sweet in it, are getting punked by some crafty New York street fighters.

Being an adman, I would like to see my guys emerge victorious. To do that will take shifting their perspective and relearning how to fight like they mean it. So in the spirit of winning the diversity war, here are five things advertising-agency-holding-company CEOs can do to handle this diversity business overnight.

1. FIRE YOURSELF!
Well, not really. Just your tendencies. Reinvent yourself as a man of courage and great conviction. If your shareholders had a CEO who really got that treating diversity as a business issue is the right approach, some of the insane internal pressures to fix the situation would be eliminated.

If you have a good eye for global populations, national race and ethnicity concentrations, and consumer-market indices, you could wake up tomorrow and say something like, “I love the smell of diversity in the morning.” Then grab your general’s helmet and head to the office with a new sense of accountability and personal responsibility. Your staff would rise to the occasion, because the general gave the order. And if your agency won or saved an account because of some brilliant, yet darker-skinned idea maven, the business case for diversity in your business would have his name in the byline. That is an instant change any CEO can make. It just takes a commitment to action, and taking credit for something everyone knows is right: employment fairness. And having a deeper value for the idea that diversity of thought leads to creative brilliance anyway.

No doubt doing what I’m suggesting seems unnatural and perhaps too liberal, but I’m sure that during your finest hour, you, too, had learned more from stepping out beyond your comfort zone than staying inside it. Today’s world requires more than the insulated environment you’ve grown used to. It requires stepping into a fight instead of walking away from it.

Doesn’t it seem just a little odd to you that one woman, Nancy Hill, president-CEO of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, stood up for you at the latest hearing, and the tone and texture of the problem seemed to shift. You, in your current moral and spiritual composition, are a poor match for the courage, nerve and passion of a New York City Council. Get off it. Now is the time to find in yourself the moral fortitude to match up with those who stand against you. Step away from the safety of the crowd you now stand in. Approach the accusers with the power of your conviction and the will to make change where you stand.

It may not be Global Holding Company CEO 101, but it is what’s wanted and needed for your organization and the industry.

2. STOP FEARING YOUR CLIENTS.
At least don’t be so pathetic about it. Clients like to see courage, too. I haven’t met one yet who didn’t want his agency to make him look like the great innovator. You know, that kind of corporate greatness that causes promotions or creates distinction in the executive suite. Oftentimes they don’t know how you did it. You just have to actually show some leadership—instead of waiting for the opportunity to serve them by just taking orders. What if a senior executive for a multinational holding company told a client that diversity was good for the business—not based on some sort of Harvard Business Review case study, but because he felt in his personal experience it was the right thing to do.

You should also have a pretty focused plan for how the agency would go about doing it—without lowering standards or doing less-than-excellent work. It bothers me a lot that some of us think that skin color (or where someone went to school) determines great effort and accomplishment. Nonsense. A great idea has never cared what color its parents were. And the guy who says this first and means it is going to see his stock price rise exponentially. Tell your clients what you stand for.

Fearlessly.

The mistake many CEOs make is not recognizing that what the Human Rights Commission is looking for is a little accountability. That’s why Nancy Hill did us all a huge “solid” by showing up at the hearing and speaking honestly and passionately about inclusion and the opportunity we all have to make a difference.

If a few of you invested some skin in this game of advocacy and stood up for accountability in open court, the world you live in would change around you. Top-notch CEOs at some world-class companies have done just that and turned things around. Terrance Lanni of MGM Mirage stood up and said things would change. Rick Kovacevich of Wells Fargo said his company would commit to supplier diversity. Lee Iacocca stood up for the New Chrysler. All these men took a stand, and things changed. Be the man, and your world will step up to your promise. And your clients will admire your gumption and courage.

3. LEAVE HOME!
I know the country’s nice. And the uptown flat is even better. But it helps determine the kind of culture you manifest in your workplace at large. Do agency executives live in a corporate culture that values diversity? Of course not! Most of you guys who run ad agencies don’t live among the average, multicultural consumer. You live largely isolated from people of color. And you bring that isolationism to work every day.

Spend more time out of the executive dining room and more time at the deli counter looking, feeling, and, yes, smelling some of the customers that help pay for those million-dollar cribs on the hill.

If you really want diversity in the company to be valued, you’ve got to bring that value in. The culture of most advertising agencies is already bent against it. There are wonderful ways to show cultural respect and multicultural intelligence and still be a fine advertising agency. Just ask somebody in any shade of black, brown or yellow—preferably someone who isn’t already in advertising. They’ll have lots to say. Write it down and work on a response and plan to change the culture of your organization.

I suggest doing this before the agency starts hiring a bunch of underqualified black people, and then watches them fail just to prove that they shouldn’t have been hired in the first place.

4. STOP HIRING MINORITIES!
Is it possible this is what got you into trouble from the start? Someone told you it was good to hire more minorities, and it just felt wrong—unfair to people who aren’t minorities. I bet that’s how it began. In many urban centers in America, non-minorities are fast becoming the minority. What I mean is that the quest for qualified talent is not about race, ethnicity or being a minority. It’s about talent, pure and simple. Not only are qualified people of color out there, they are available and looking for opportunities to excel in the advertising business. To discover people of color, all we have to do is stop seeing differences and look for commonalities. I suspect someone told you guys that it’s hard to find qualified minorities. They were just making excuses for not looking in the right places. Try looking for qualified and passionate people, wherever you can find them. I run one of the most multicultural advertising agencies in the business, and I haven’t looked for a minority yet. Well, maybe a few white males from Ivy League schools on occasion.

5. GO BACK TO WORK.
Not to the boardroom or shareholder meetings. I’m suggesting you go back to your chosen profession before you made the big time. Was it media? Creative? Account management?

Try going back to the basics of the business and experiencing what makes the business one of the coolest places to work on the planet.

Once you’re back in touch with the brilliance of the business, take a trip to a historically black college or university or an urban college and give a speech for the Advertising Education Fund. You’ll learn something. Jerry Della Femina once said that being in advertising was the most fun you can have with your clothes on. He’s right. We have to do a better job of letting students in on the secret. Don’t worry about the fact that your skin color will probably be in contrast with that of the student body. Watch their faces. They will be looking at you with all the wonderment and excitement that comes from a student when he or she meets an inspired professional. Most CEOs give talks to shareholders and look almost dead doing it. These talks should be invigorating.

You can make a difference in diversity of employment immediately, one school, one student at a time. Have your agency’s senior executives do more campus visits as well.

Find the right advocate for diversity in your organization—and not a black woman. For goodness’ sake, choose an executive from the boys’ club who not only knows what must be done but knows how to speak the language of those who have not taken to the notion of diversity. The conversion must flourish within the white-male ad community, not outside it.

Those are my five things a CEO can do to instantly change the ad business as we know it. It isn’t hard stuff. It just takes a manner of conviction and action that currently isn’t being commanded in the executive suites of some of the finest advertising organizations in the world. Shame on you for letting a few slick, passionate politicians get the drop on you in a dark alley. I thought you guys were better than that. This game of persuasion is about walking the walk, talking with moral authority, and then throwing a chair or two in the mouth of the charging crowd. When they spread, run like hell.

Jo Muse is chairman-CEO of Muse Communications.

6473: BHM 2009.

Mike Conley still holds the U.S. indoor triple jump record. So why does the photo show an outdoor jump?

6472: A Freebie For Chief Diversity Officers.

From the Winter 2009 issue of The Black EOE Journal.

6471: Saab Jets To Bankruptcy.

The news that Saab filed for bankruptcy jogged MultiCultClassics’ memory, leading back to a 2005 post. Be sure to check out the classic AdPulp post and thread too—with prophetic and hilarious commentary from David Burn, Danny G and HighJive.

6470: Patronizing Pap From Marriott.

Um, how about: You can’t bring diversity to Madison Avenue.

6469: Marching Over Monkeys.

Weekend update with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Spike Lee joined the protestors calling for a boycott on the New York Post for its infamous monkey cartoon. Lee even asked celebrities and sports figures to stop dealing with the publication. No word yet from Michael Jackson and Bubbles.

• Saab has filed for bankruptcy, leading to predictions that the brand will be spun off or sold by parent corporation General Motors. Wonder if GM will offer employee discount prices to anyone interested in buying Saab.

• Mining company Anglo American announced plans to cut 19,000 workers. A name change would be nice too.

• Early estimates show Girl Scout cookies sales may be down 19 percent in certain areas. No word yet if officials foresee Girl Scouts layoffs.

6468: Incontinent And Incompetent.

Kiss My Black Ads shits on a JWT diaper commercial. Check it out.

6467: This And That From DDB.

Superspy of Agency Spy posted a perspective on the diversity initiatives at DDB (Note: The link doesn’t seem to work—visit Agency Spy and scroll to Thursday, February 19). It’s definitely deserving of a chuckle. Also worth noting is a PowerPoint presentation defining the DDB commitment to inclusive living. One bullet reads:

DDB creates communications that represent the society we live in on behalf of our client partners. As communicators, it is our job to represent all cultures appropriately without reinforcing stereotypes or cultural boundaries.

Okey-doke. So what’s the explanation for this, this and this? And if you open the Omnicom umbrella, you’ll see this, this, this, this, and this. Imagine that.

6466: BHM 2009.

Colgate-Palmolive deserves kudos for at least connecting with a worthy charity.

UPDATE: Oops. May have typed too quickly. Came across the Latino ad below, hyping the same charity with no BHM reference. Did Colgate-Palmolive simply attach BHM sentiments to its regular charity work to woo Black audiences? Is the presumption that BHM holds no interest to Latino audiences? Is there a White version out there with zero BHM or Latino elements? It’s all starting to feel a little too segregated—and tacky.

6465: Monkeys And CEOs. Is There A Difference?

Sorry statements in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• The New York Post published a bizarre acknowledgment that its infamous monkey cartoon could be offensive. The paper wrote:

That Cartoon

Wednesday's Page Six cartoon—caricaturing Monday’s police shooting of a chimpanzee in Connecticut—has created considerable controversy.

It shows two police officers standing over the chimp’s body: “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill,” one officer says.

It was meant to mock an ineptly written federal stimulus bill.

Period.

But it has been taken as something else—as a depiction of President Obama, as a thinly veiled expression of racism.

This most certainly was not its intent; to those who were offended by the image, we apologize.

However, there are some in the media and in public life who have had differences with The Post in the past—and they see the incident as an opportunity for payback.

To them, no apology is due.

Sometimes a cartoon is just a cartoon—even as the opportunists seek to make it something else.

Um, sometimes a cartoon is just a cartoon—and sometimes culturally clueless racism is just culturally clueless racism.

• Lowe’s reported 4Q profits dropped 60 percent. The company’s CEO said, “The economic pressures on consumers intensified in the fourth quarter, resulting in a further decline in consumer confidence and dramatic reductions in consumer spending. As a result, our comparable store sales for the quarter remained weak and fell at the low end of our expectations.” At this point, it seems like all CEOs are reading from the same cue card.

• J.C. Penney reported 4Q profits dropped 51 percent. “Throughout the year, we took steps to significantly reduce our inventories and operating expenses in order to withstand the impact of the economic conditions,’ said the company’s chairman and chief executive. “At the same time, we stepped up the style we offer and focused on effectively communicating the newness, excitement and value in our merchandise.” Stepped up the style for J.C. Penney means they probably hired another washed-up 1970s celebrity to design a line of cheap apparel.

• Even Walmart reported 4Q profit losses, which fell 7.4 percent for the retailer. At least the CEO didn’t claim the place stepped up the style.

6464: BHM 2009.

Chicago’s Navy Pier presents an exhibit featuring prominent Blacks including—surprise!—President Barack Obama.

6463: Chimps Ahoy!

Drawing out the news in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• The New York Post monkey cartoon is prompting protests, including an effort to fire the editor who approved its publication. The newspaper continues to gain publicity by also reporting on the weird relationship between the monkey that allegedly inspired the cartoon and its owner. There’s gotta be an infinite monkey theorem joke here.

• Sprint Nextel reported a 4Q loss of $1.6 billion. “In tough economic times, we’re generating substantial cash and reducing costs to ensure we remain financially sound,” said Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse. Let’s hope the cost-cutting plans include replacing Hesse in commercials with a wild chimp.

6462: A Nation Of Cowards.

From The Chicago Tribune…

U.S. a ‘nation of cowards’ on race, 1st black attorney general says

Holder’s speech signals more active Justice Department on civil rights issues

By Josh Meyer

WASHINGTON — For the past eight years, the Justice Department and the Bush administration were relatively quiet on the issue of race and its place within the social fabric of America and the enforcement of civil rights and justice.

But on Wednesday, Eric Holder, newly confirmed as the nation’s first black attorney general, issued a call to action to Americans in and out of government, saying the United States is “a nation of cowards” on race relations that needs to finally—and urgently—begin confronting the issue before it polarizes the country even further.

“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards,” Holder said in a Black History Month speech to hundreds of Justice Department employees.

“It is an issue we have never been at ease with, and given our nation’s history this is in some ways understandable,” Holder said. “And yet, if we are to make progress in this area, we must feel comfortable enough with one another, and tolerant enough of each other, to have frank conversations about the racial matters that continue to divide us.”

Civil rights activists welcomed the speech as an encouraging sign that the Justice Department under Holder and the man who appointed him, President Barack Obama, will be active on issues they said were largely neglected under President George W. Bush, such as voting rights and workplace discrimination.

Some conservatives, however, said Holder’s rhetoric was overly confrontational.

Mary Frances Berry, the former chairwoman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, said: “When I heard it, I called over there and told them to tell Eric that I thought it was a gutsy speech, a timely speech.”

Holder implied he plans to address issues such as race and social justice as the top law-enforcement official. Holder told his Justice Department subordinates that the nation “must do more, and we in this room bear a special responsibility.”

Joe Hicks, a black Republican and the former executive director of the Los Angeles City Human Relations Commission, called Holder’s comments incendiary and an inaccurate portrayal of a nation.

“Here’s the first black attorney general appointed by the first black American president, and he’s espousing views that appear to be almost ultraleft in their approach to race in America, that blacks are victims and whites are intolerant and accepting of quasi-racist views,” Hicks said.

6461: BHM 2009.

Child Reaching For The Stars
Gospel Choir
Scratching DJ
Multigenerational Family
Graffiti Artist
Athlete
Singer and/or Spoken Word Artist
Graduate
Jazz Musician
Cute Baby
Copy Referencing Marches, Elections, Traditions, etc.

Mickey D’s covers the most BHM clichés in a single page.

6460: Culturally Clueless FAQs—Number 5.

Question: How can I hire minorities without lowering my standards?

Answer: First of all, the question displays incredible ignorance—on an infinite number of levels. In order to keep this post shorter than Tolstoy’s War and Peace, we’ll only hit the major points.

No one has been asked to even consider hiring inferior talent. Ever. Rather, the goal is to broaden employers’ perspectives. To encourage managers to look beyond the same tired, limited, monochromatic pool of usual suspects. It’s about finding the best possible person for the job. Period.

To presume that minorities are inadequate in any way, shape or form is biased, bigoted bullshit. If you have asked this question—or just thought it in your miniscule mind—you need to take a long, hard look in the mirror. You are directly responsible for the exclusivity and discrimination so prevalent in our industry.

Regarding the mythical standards so many profess to embrace, try surveying the landscape at your current shop. How many employees landed their roles by meeting or exceeding exacting prerequisites versus slipping under the radar thanks to nepotism, cronyism, favoritism and other assorted isms?

Hackneyed entertainment vehicles reflecting the ad agency world openly expose the recruiting tactics commonly executed. Who’s zooming who?

In closing, you’re cordially invited to review a classic rant on the subject.

Change has come to America. But it took a detour around Madison Avenue. While citizens have adopted phrases like “post-racial,” the advertising industry operates in a pre-Civil Rights time warp. Whenever the topics of diversity and inclusion appear, ad executives consistently display stunning ignorance. MultiCultClassics has sought to address the issues in the past. However, the matters have evolved along with society, despite Madison Avenue’s retarded development. As a public service, this blog will answer a series of Frequently Asked Questions to enlighten the asses… er, masses.

6459: Monkey Business.

Drawing wild conclusions in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• The New York Post sparked controversy by publishing the cartoon above, which some believe demeans President Barack Obama. Rev. Al Sharpton said, “The cartoon in today’s New York Post is troubling at best given the historic racist attacks of African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys. One has to question whether the cartoonist is making a less than casual reference to this when in the cartoon they have police saying after shooting a chimpanzee that ‘Now they will have to find someone else to write the stimulus bill.’ Being that the stimulus bill has been the first legislative victory of President Barack Obama and has become synonymous with him it is not a reach to wonder are they inferring that a monkey wrote the last bill?” The Post fired back, “The cartoon is a clear parody of a current news event, to wit the shooting of a violent chimpanzee in Connecticut. It broadly mocks Washington’s efforts to revive the economy. Again, Al Sharpton reveals himself as nothing more than a publicity opportunist.” Um, the New York Post should not accuse others of being publicity opportunists.

• Goodyear reported 4Q sales flattened 21 percent, prompting the decision to cut 5,000 jobs. At least they didn’t blame it on a raging chimpanzee.

• Michael Jackson is poised to auction off thousands of personal items, including his iconic white glove. When Bubbles finds out, he’s gonna go ape-shit.

6458: BHM 2009.

Wondered who would show up with the annual cliché of spotlighting Black inventors. Congratulations to the Ad Council.

6457: Dear Adweek, You Suck.

Adweek is pathetic.

After a recent story resulted in 200+ comments—many ripping two New York ECDs—the publication presented the poll above. Adweek followed through with a lame editorial, announcing they will be more diligent in moderating comments.

What planet are these fools from?

For starters, it’s their responsibility to moderate online remarks. Advertising Age is quite explicit in stating that comments personally attacking people will be deleted. Not sure why Adweek didn’t create a similar position sooner.

One Adweek editor claimed they did indeed remove select comments, “like ones that referred to Paul Tilley (a Chicago ECD who committed suicide last year).” Um, it’s swell to show respect for the deceased—but what about the living? Why is it obscene to mention a dead person, but OK to shit on people who are still alive?

Certain folks noted commentators referred to Adweek.com as a blog. Well, if you’re going to let all hell break loose via threads, the confusion is understandable. Additionally, Adweek’s own blog, AdFreak, is hardly a stranger to rude comments. That blog, some might recall, initiated the hate fest for Draftfcb by being the first to snicker at the infamous “Cannes Fucking Lions” ad. And now Adweek regularly reruns content from AdFreak in the magazine and at Adweek.com.

Seems like Adweek wants to have its cake and crass comments too.

6456: Trust Me, These Guys Are AWMs.

Didn’t watch the entire latest episode of TNT series Trust Me, but saw enough to continue the contention that the show’s creators are culturally clueless White men. Indeed, they are most likely AWMs.

The program is a tad too comfortable presenting a White male viewpoint, with all the paranoia and silliness usually associated with a standard midlife crisis.

This week, audiences were treated to Mason and Conner facing ageism.

Oh, the humanity.

These poor, pathetic victims felt threatened for being considered outdated and irrelevant. The truth is, they are. The allegedly creative duo consistently freestyles in client meetings, admittedly pulling ideas out of their asses. Are they the only ones who don’t realize such acts result in, well, shit? If you are seeking to position yourself as a youth expert after conducting an in-home focus group on your teenage daughter, you deserve to get called out. Instead, Trust Me paints these assholes as heroes who merit pity. Mason and Conner are whiny bitches who feel entitled, despite having failed to demonstrate they’ve ever earned their positions.

Leave it to White admen to devise such perspectives and pass it off as entertainment.

6455: Overreaction Of The Week.

Why does LifeLock® depict potential identity thieves with minorities, but all the potential victims are Whites?

6454: BHM 2009.

Celabrating Black History Month—without a proofreader.

6453: Culturally Clueless FAQs—Number 4.

Question: Isn’t Cyrus Mehri just another opportunistic bottom feeder in the Jesse Jackson / Al Sharpton tradition?

Answer: It’s always interesting—yet never surprising—to see individuals who protest injustices branded as bottom feeders. Then again, facing off with Madison Avenue on these issues does require lowering yourself to nasty depths.

Regardless, it’s important to recognize key differences between Mehri and Messrs. Jackson and Sharpton.

Despite occasional forays into advertising industry affairs, Jackson and Sharpton are ultra-outsiders. (Although rumors claim Black-owned agency executives told Jackson to back off when he offered to wage battles in the past.) While the two clearly understand things like exclusion and discrimination, they’re corporately clueless, at least when it comes to the ad agency business. In contrast, Mehri has done his homework. The Bendick and Egan Economic Consultants, Inc. report is nearly flawless in its examination of the inner dealings on Madison Avenue. The AAF and 4A’s couldn’t have produced a more factual, accurate document.

Additionally, the tactics employed by Jackson and Sharpton have possibly lost effectiveness over the years. One could argue that Jackson especially often resorted to intimidation that played on White guilt. Mehri, on the other hand, seeks to intimidate by proving Whites are guilty.

Advantage Mehri.

As for being opportunistic, well, let’s really consider the term. Remember, this battle has been plodding along since the 1930s. Madison Avenue has had plenty of opportunities to address matters for about 80 years. It’s not as if Mehri seized upon the moment, catching people unaware. The truth is, industry leaders have been opportunistic by perpetuating the problems via apathy and worse. Maybe we should all see this as an opportunity to create positive change.

If Mehri manages to take this drama to a courtroom, we can’t wait to learn whom Madison Avenue will call upon to defend. Even Denny Crane would take a pass on it.

Change has come to America. But it took a detour around Madison Avenue. While citizens have adopted phrases like “post-racial,” the advertising industry operates in a pre-Civil Rights time warp. Whenever the topics of diversity and inclusion appear, ad executives consistently display stunning ignorance. MultiCultClassics has sought to address the issues in the past. However, the matters have evolved along with society, despite Madison Avenue’s retarded development. As a public service, this blog will answer a series of Frequently Asked Questions to enlighten the asses… er, masses.

6452: Disney Introduces New BAP.

From USA TODAY…

Disney adds African-American Princess Tiana to royal family

By Charisse Jones, USA TODAY

Move over Snow White. Make room for Princess Tiana.

For the first time, Disney is creating a film with an African-American princess whose doll will make its debut Monday at the American International Toy Fair in New York City.

For Disney, it’s not just about being culturally and politically correct, it’s also about growing its lucrative — but aging — Disney Princess franchise in a tough economy. Created in 1999, Disney Princesses had $4 billion in global retail sales last year.

The cocoa-colored doll, which sports a tiara and a flowing blue gown, and is roughly the size of a Barbie, is expected to sell for about the same $10 to $15 as Barbie. Disney hopes it will boost the franchise through rough times. The $22 billion toy industry saw sales fall about 3% last year, and sales of dolls dropped a hefty 8%, according to the Toy Industry Association.

Though Princess Tiana was on the drawing board long before Barack Obama was elected the nation’s first black president, marketing experts say she signals a growing awareness by industries from toymakers to cosmetic companies that diversity is critical in a nation where people of color will be the majority in little more than 30 years.

“It’s very significant,” says Lisa Skriloff, president of Multicultural Marketing Resources. “It’s like a stamp of approval for one of the most outstanding family (entertainment) companies to say this is important.”

Tiana, whose story will come to the big screen later this year in the animated musical The Princess and the Frog, is the first princess introduced by Disney since Mulan in 1998.

Disney executives say that they did not set out to make a social statement.

“It was much more about the storytelling,” says Kathy Franklin, vice president, global studio franchise development for Disney Consumer Products. “This was not about a conscious decision to say we need an African-American princess.”

Yet, industry watchers say that when Princess Tiana dolls hit stores in the fall, they will bring diversity to a marketplace where it’s been sorely lacking.

“I think we’re going to see more.”

Mattel, which has the license to create the Princess Tiana dolls, is planning to release its own line of black dolls in September. Part of the Barbie family, the So In Style dolls are being touted as having a more authentic appearance, from their hair to their varying skin tones.

Disney, which has had great success with its Princess franchise, predicts that sales will surge with the arrival of Tiana.

“We expect our sales of Princess Tiana products to be significant, and not just to African-American households,” says Franklin.

As with her fellow princesses, Tiana merchandise will range from Halloween costumes to backpacks. There are plans for Tiana-theme MP3 players and digital cameras to be in stores by the end of the year, and a line of Princess Tiana and The Princess and the Frog books will go on sale this fall.

6451: BHM 2009.

The Illinois State Lottery salutes BHM—mere weeks after firing its Black advertising agency.

Note to Lottery officials: Very few of the legends depicted here are in the public domain. And some are already hyping BHM efforts with other advertisers.

6450: Do All Ad Industry Minorities Look Alike?

Advertising Age has been running a series of articles apparently saluting Black History Month. On the one hand, the publication deserves kudos for consistent, year-round coverage of the typically underrepresented industry segments. However, of the three BHM reports to date, two are not even Black-focused. The second report spotlighted Chief Diversity Officers, whose chief concern should be, well, diversity. The third report examined the future of minority advertising agencies, which rightly included Latino and Asian executives. What’s next in the BHM series—Native Americans and indigenous Hawaiians?

6449: Miley Cyrus, Culturally Clueless Genius.

Miley Cyrus’ IQ is 110. Her Culturally Clueless Quotient is off the charts.

6448: Got Miffed?

The protein in milk helps build muscle—which comes in handy when beating your girlfriend.

6447: The Future Looks White Bright.

AdAge.com published the following story on the fate of ethnic advertising agencies. This topic will also be covered in the near future via Culturally Clueless FAQs. Check back soon.

Do Ethnic Shops Have a Future?
May Be Far in Distance, but Integrated Madison Ave Could Spell End for Some

By Marissa Miley

NEW YORK -- No matter who is in the White House or what the lawyers ultimately accomplish, the consumer-facing side of marketing will never inhabit a post-racial world. In a realm where every differentiating factor is examined to place consumers into niches and categories, being judged by the color of one’s skin is simply a fact of life.

Behind the scenes, however, it’s a different story. That’s where the lawsuits, diversity officers and recruiters struggle to change the face of the advertising industry. And what if they succeed? Suppose some years from now general-market shops have fully integrated staffs with knowledge of every cultural and racial demographic—and reams of quality research. Will the need for agencies that specialize in ethnic marketing disappear?

“If you look at the way things are currently done, [African-American agencies] would go out of business, because we wouldn’t have anything to do,” said Eugene Morris, chairman-CEO and founder, E. Morris Communications. Since black-owned agencies are routinely passed over for general-market assignments and make their money as ethnic shops, he said, they’d have no business left. Even now, they receive disproportionately small budgets relative to the market contribution they make. “Unless that changes, how can we compete?”

Fay Ferguson, co-CEO of Burrell Communications, said she feels differently. She is convinced that as the general-market agencies become more robust and reflective of the “tanning of America,” the best of the multicultural agencies will “not just survive but thrive,” she said.

And then there are the idealists. Bill Imada, chairman-CEO of IW Group, anticipates an altogether different scenario. “I’m hoping there won’t be a need for multicultural agencies in the future. I would welcome being extinct,” he said.

Distant future
While they may differ on some points, all three agree on one thing: General-market agencies aren’t going to be all that diversified any time soon.

Mr. Imada conceded that when he first entered the business 18 years ago, he thought that general-market agencies would catch up within years. “Eighteen years later and I’m not convinced,” he said.

The fact of the matter is that diversifying the employee makeup of general-market agencies certainly does not ensure that those agencies will have the expertise or experience to do segmented ethnic marketing. For starters, they do not have the resources or appropriate leadership at the top.

What is more, said Alex Lopez Negrete, president-CEO of Lopez Negrete Communications, general-market agencies would not necessarily have the same motivations or passions for their work.

“It’s not about changing the slang, or throwing in the hip-hop,” Mr. Lopez Negrete said. “It gets a lot deeper. We’re dealing in a very different kitchen.” He said that his agency understands and cares deeply about the Latino community in a way that general-market agencies do not. What he does is not about race, it’s about culture. And this doesn’t mean that he excludes people of other cultures; Mr. Lopez Negrete supposes that around 8%-10% of his employees are non-Hispanic. What everyone at his company shares is a passion for Hispanic culture.

“That’s what we breathe, that’s what we do 24/7,” he said.

Value of specialization
Mr. Lopez Negrete envisions a future where general-market and multicultural agencies collaborate on work for clients. “As long as clients see the value of true specialization, not just the veneer of that work, multicultural agencies will continue to grow, continue to exist—and coexist in relationships fostered by the client,” he said.

Alejandro Ruelas, managing partner of LatinWorks, which is in part owned by Omnicom Group, considers general-market agency ventures in ethnic marketing as healthy competition and a boost to his business in Hispanic marketing. He estimates that currently over 90% of work in Hispanic advertising arena is done by specialty shops, rather than general-market agencies.

“It would be a welcome challenge,” he said, if those general market agencies entered his space. “For me, it’s not a threat. It’s an opportunity for us to become better by having competition to look up to and measure ourselves against,” he said.

Some multicultural agencies aspire to dominate the niche space that they are in. Mr. Lopez Negrete wanted only to serve the Latino population.

Others, like Walton/Isaacson, hope to be the “Planet’s Most Interesting Agency.” Co-founder Aaron Walton attributes his company’s success to the diversity and inclusivity within the ranks of his agency. The bulk of his business is in the general market. “We understand the differences and we celebrate the things that are common,” Mr. Walton said.

He imagines that many general-market agencies would like to tap into the multicultural space, but said that “just because you want to doesn’t mean you can.”

“It’s an easy shift for us to do general-market work. It’s a harder shift for the general marketers the other way,” said IW Group’s Mr. Imada.

Equal opportunities
But Mr. Morris disagrees, and he has noticed that increasingly, general-market agencies are taking away ethnic-specific segment assignments—on the African-American front at any rate.

“We think it is the general desire of general-market agencies to put us out of business,” he said. Recently, Mr. Morris wrote an open letter on behalf of the Association of Black-Owned Advertising Agencies to the Association of National Advertisers, urging marketers to give equal opportunities to African-American agencies.

“Unless African-American agencies become part of the mainstream, our community would definitely suffer,” he said, noting that African-American businesses make an economic contribution to the African-American community—a critical capital boost that general-market agencies do not do.

“There are people who think that because Barack is president, that that solves all the problems of the African-American community,” said Mr. Morris. “Perhaps it spiritually uplifted African-Americans, but it has not economically lifted the African-American community. It has not solved our problems yet.”

“The only people who can change this are the clients themselves,” Mr. Morris said.

6446: Celebrating The Olden Days.

AdAge.com published an excerpt from Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Jason Chambers. The excerpt spotlights adman Georg Olden, whose career included stints at CBS, BBDO and McCann Erickson. Check it out. Or better yet, buy the book.

6445: BHM 2009.

Isn’t it time to stop declaring, “Isn’t it time to take the Month out of Black History Month?”

6444: Have A Coke And A Smiley Face.

A profitable MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• PepsiCo reported 4Q profits were down. Perhaps the company should turn its new smiley logo into a frown.

• Marriott reported a 4Q loss of $10 million. The hotel corporation will probably recoup the loss via sales of $10 bottles of Pepsi in suite mini-bars.

• Abercrombie & Fitch reported 4Q profits fell 68 percent. Media company Viacom reported 4Q profits dropped 69 percent. Can we get a 70 percent slide?

6443: Hey, Let’s Just Entirely Eliminate February.

From The Chicago Tribune…

Is Black History Month already history? Well, it depends

By Clarence Page

Once again it is Black History Month, a time when Americans of all colors increasingly ask, among other questions, whether we need to have Black History Month.

Or maybe we don’t remember well enough to ask. In New York, for example, four years after the state created a commission to promote the teaching of black history in public schools, The New York Times reports that the commission has never met and several positions remain unfilled. Is the commission already history?

Other states like Illinois, Arkansas, Florida, Michigan and Colorado have adopted similar legislation, often by requiring black history be taught with a variety of other ethnic experiences. In fact, that sounds a lot like what black scholar Carter G. Woodson had in mind when he founded “Negro History Week.”

“We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history,” he said in 1926. “What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race, hate and religious prejudice.”

If ever there was a month when African-American history was significant, it is this one. Abraham Lincoln—You remember “the Great Emancipator”?—was born 200 years ago on Feb. 12. A hundred years later the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, was born on Lincoln’s birthday. A century later we have our first biracial president. What a country.

Which raises a question I’ve pondered increasingly in recent years about the NAACP and Black History Month. If they weren’t around, would anyone notice?

A lot of people ask, now that Americans of all colors have put an African-American in the White House, how much more “advancement” do we need?

Long before President Barack Obama came along, the NAACP came to the forefront with hard-won victories of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. A 1908 race riot in Springfield, where seven died, led to the birth of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. A few blocks away was where Obama launched his presidential campaign.

Obama’s campaign sparked an outpouring of heartfelt flag-waving patriotism across color lines unlike any seen since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Appropriately, civil rights leaders like the NAACP’s new president, Benjamin Todd Jealous, are often asked, where does the movement go from here? In interviews, he has pointed to statistics. It is still too easy to find tragically big statistical gaps between blacks and whites in income, prison incarceration, academic achievement and the like.

Yet, since at least the 1980s, color alone has not told the whole story. The gaps between the haves and have-nots in black America have grown larger than the gaps between blacks and whites. Even Obama, for example, has pointed out that it would be unfair to give preference in college admissions to his daughters based on race when they obviously are more advantaged than many white students.

Obama’s hardly the first person to make that modest class-based argument, but it’s hard to think of anyone else who could do it with as much moral authority.

Yet, when I, among others, have made this point to NAACP Chairman Julian Bond and other civil rights leaders, they tend to rebuff the argument, saying their emphasis is on civil rights, not social action. But President Abraham Lincoln offered a valuable lesson here. He defended slavery and white supremacy on several notable occasions early on in his rise, but changed his mind when he received new information, partly with the help of the abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass.

As national NAACP leaders ponder their next century, a new generation of local leaders is looking for new ways to close the gaps in parenting, mentoring and other social problems that lawsuits, elections and protest marches can’t solve alone. If they’re successful, maybe then we can look at the NAACP with continued admiration and we won’t have to say that its best days are behind it.

6442: BHM 2009.

The Los Angeles Times covers BHM with a special online section—and nearly invisible banner ads.

6441: Another Reason To Hate Focus Groups.

This actual craigslist ad indicates that the morons killing your big idea could be making more money than you.

FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANTS — up to 70/hr
Reply to: gigs-1033483450@craigslist.org
Date: 2009-02-13, 2:09PM CST

We need participants that have the ability to spend 1-2 hours daily taking part in research groups by email and/or internet chat groups. The pay is $70 dollars per study/group, depending on how long it takes to complete http://alestatemobilereal.zoodl.com/710

6440: BHM 2009.

Not sure this is what Dr. King had in mind when he shouted, “Free At Last!”

6439: Advertisers Clueless About Black Women?!

From pr-inside.com…

Black Women Say Advertisers Don’t Know How to Talk to Them, According to Lattimer Communications Study

86% of African-American women say that advertisers need to do a better job of talking to them, according to the Lattimer Communications study, “A Profile of Today’s Black Woman” released today. Advertisers need to re-evaluate their marketing campaigns targeting this important segment.

“A Profile of Today’s Black Woman” also revealed that most industries can do a better job in marketing to African-American women especially categories like Automotive, Banking/Financial, Travel, Healthcare/Pharmaceutical, and Fast Food.

The national study was developed and fielded in collaboration with The Bantam Group, a leading market research agency. The study is the first of its kind to examine attitudes and consumer behaviors for African-American women with the hopes of developing psychographic profiles.

“We felt that we needed to finally give a voice to African-American women who have so often been silenced and misrepresented due to stereotyping and deemed one-dimensional,” said Sarah Lattimer, President, Lattimer Communications. “Inspired by First Lady Michelle Obama and the fact that there are so many other Black women like her whose stories often go untold, we wanted to provide research that would identify profiles of African-American women.”

Through their study, Lattimer Communications was able to build six psychographic profiles of African-American women: Achievers; Fledglings; Tag-A-Longs; Self-Sufficients; Traditionals; and Cynics. Through the use of these profiles, advertisers will be better able to target marketing campaigns to those specific Black women who may be interested in their product or service.

“These six profiles are proof that Black women are, in fact, multi-dimensional. Advertisers cannot target the African-American female without determining what profile she falls into in order to determine specific and engaging marketing strategies,” said Lattimer. “Advertisers who think that they can target all Black women the same way are sorely mistaken. Historically, this is what’s been done but through our research you can see that this is not effective.”

In March, Lattimer Communications will launch a blog, “MochaLatti,” to continue to engage African-American women across the country. This invitation-only blog will serve as a place where Black women can be heard in a society where they are often misunderstood.

About The Lattimer Communications Study
A national research study among African-American women ages 18+ was conducted via focus groups and an online survey between October and December 2008. The first phase consisted of four focus groups among women from the same age group with a pre-existing relationship during which participants discussed their views on a wide range of topics from family to faith. The second phase consisted of 1,000 online interviews among Black women ages 18+ with a household income of $25,000+ in which participants were asked general and industry specific attitudinal and behavioral questions. For more information on the study, please call 404-526-9321.

About Lattimer Communications
Lattimer Communications is a full-service advertising and public relations agency specializing in developing marketing communications programs for multicultural consumer groups such as African-Americans, Females and Latinos. Past and current clients include: Georgia Power Company; SunTrust Bank; The Coca-Cola Company; Mrs. Winner’s Chicken & Biscuits; among others. For more information, please call 404-526-9321 or visit www.lattimercommunications.com.

About The Bantam Group
The Bantam Group is a buyer insight firm, providing market research and account planning services for mid size advertising and public relations agencies. For more information, please call 404-815-9331 or visit www.thebantamgroup.com.

6438: BHM 2009.

Comcast Proudly Honors Black History Month—With Special On Demand Programming!

6437: Culturally Clueless FAQs—Number 3.

Question: Doesn’t President Barack Obama prove we don’t have to pursue this diversity stuff anymore?

Answer: Why do certain individuals view President Barack Obama as some form of reparations—as if his election pays off the bar tab of bias Madison Avenue has amassed over the years?

President Obama symbolizes a major milestone in racial progress. Madison Avenue represents a serious setback in cultural evolution.

President Obama assembles a staff reflecting the vibrant variety of brilliance in America. Madison Avenue collects excuses like, “We can’t find qualified minority candidates.”

President Obama signs his first bill in support of equal pay. Madison Avenue signs diversity pacts and is exposed for paying Blacks 20 percent less than Whites.

President Obama proves change is possible. Madison Avenue shows resistance to change is possible.

By all means, let’s hold up President Obama as the one to revere. But let’s also recognize Madison Avenue as the one to reform.

Change has come to America. But it took a detour around Madison Avenue. While citizens have adopted phrases like “post-racial,” the advertising industry operates in a pre-Civil Rights time warp. Whenever the topics of diversity and inclusion appear, ad executives consistently display stunning ignorance. MultiCultClassics has sought to address the issues in the past. However, the matters have evolved along with society, despite Madison Avenue’s retarded development. As a public service, this blog will answer a series of Frequently Asked Questions to enlighten the asses… er, masses.

6436: Vibe Vanishing…?

From AdAge.com…

‘Vibe’ Retrenches in Face of Recession
Reduces Circulation, Frequency; Staff Gets Pay Cuts, Four-Day Workweek

By Nat Ives

NEW YORK -- Vibe magazine is cutting its paid circulation 25%, reducing its frequency to 10 issues a year from 12, and merging its print and digital editorial operations, all in the magazine industry’s latest response to the twin attacks by recession and new media.

In addition to internal restructuring, Vibe is avoiding layoffs by adopting a four-day workweek accompanied by 10% to 15% pay cuts for its employees.

But Vibe is also departing from the standard playbook by introducing a twice-a-year newsstand-only celebrity tabloid. It plans to increase the subscription price for its flagship. And it is avoiding layoffs by adopting a four-day workweek accompanied by 10% to 15% pay cuts for its employees. The new day off, at least to start, will be Friday, though some staffing will be organized to keep the office open five days a week.

“Based on the financial climate and based on what’s going on, we needed to make a tough decision,” said Steve Aaron, CEO of Vibe Media Group. “We decided not to follow the old-school textbook of restructuring and instead look for ways to keep the talent in place.” Employees were told of the changes in a meeting this afternoon.

The Wicks Group, a private-equity firm, bought Vibe in 2006. It quickly laid off more than 25 employees. It shuttered Vibe Vixen, a 2-year-old spinoff focused on women, the following year. (It now plans to publish Vibe Vixen and Vibe Prodigy, a parenting title, as occasional specials.)

Once a sign of weakness
Cutting paid circulation—in Vibe’s case, to 600,000 from 800,000 -- was once a sign of weakness in the eyes of advertisers and marketers, but the ad pages that bloated circulations used to attract aren’t flowing like they used to. “If you’re not getting as many ad pages anymore and you have less-profitable circulation that you’re trying to maintain, the equation doesn’t make sense anymore,” said an executive at one big magazine advertiser. “Magazines would be better off getting rid of their unprofitable circulation and managing to a level where it’s more profitable on a bottom-line basis. And advertisers would understand the reduction if it’s told to them in the right way.”

Many magazines are still expanding or maintaining their current circulation levels. But many others have decided to chop some down, resulting in circulation cuts for titles including Time, Playboy, Reader’s Digest, TV Guide and others. Newsweek said on Monday that it will cut circulation twice more in coming months.

“I really am surprised that a lot of other magazines aren’t doing this now,” the executive said.

Vibe’s ad pages dropped 17.7% last year, worse than the industry’s overall decline of 11.7%, after falling 19.9% in 2007, when magazines as whole held the line, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. Unique visitors to Vibe.com, however, increased 35% to 443,000 in December from 328,000 in December 2007, according to ComScore.

6435: Offensive All-Stars.

Idiots behaving badly in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Miley Cyrus is still reeling over her insensitive photo that offended lots of Asians and Asian Americans. Advocacy groups are blasting the Hannah Montana star, demanding that she produce public service announcements to help fight discrimination and counter perpetuating stereotypes. It doesn’t help that Cyrus is most famous for playing a character who likes to don a blond wig, huh?

• Marijuana enthusiasts are blasting Kellogg for its decision to dump Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps after he was caught with a pot pipe. “Kellogg’s had no problem signing up Phelps when he had a conviction for drunk driving, an illegal act that could actually have killed someone,” said the protesting group’s executive director. “To drop him for choosing to relax with a substance that’s safer than beer is an outrage, and it sends a dangerous message to young people.” Guess there’s no need to wonder what this moron’s been smoking.

• MillerCoors reported 4Q profits dropped 40 percent. Probably because Phelps stopped drinking in favor of marijuana.

• United Airlines is overhauling its customer service, dumping call centers and forcing fliers to lodge complaints via email or postal mail. Additionally, the company will probably charge customers a $50 fee for any complaint letter over 15 words.

6434: BHM 2009.

Um, this BHM ad almost leaves you longing for The Great Kings and Queens of Africa.

6433: Culturally Clueless FAQs—Number 2.

Question: Given the tanking economy and widespread advertising agency layoffs, isn’t this the absolute worst possible time imaginable to wage a diversity war?

Answer: Oh, there are worse timings one could imagine. Like during a supernova, or at the moment of Armageddon. Try to keep matters in perspective. As noted on numerous posts, the battle first erupted in the 1930s. Madison Avenue has seen lots of catastrophic occurrences over that period. We shouldn’t let the probability of a total economic collapse prevent progress.

Besides, it’s actually easier to ignore the issues in good times. When jobs are plentiful and the corporate coffers overflow, advertising executives feel less obligated to make diversity a priority. But when your shop is teetering on financial ruin, well, the prospect of Cyrus Mehri seizing gobs of cash certainly grabs your attention.

Other considerations loom large too. The ad business is experiencing seismic shifts right now. The old ways are being abandoned. The old hierarchies are being redrafted. The old business models are being shattered. The grizzled cynics proclaim, “The ad biz as we know it is OVER.” The seasoned veterans are in the process of Reinventing Advertising. Everyone foresees a brand new day. Even the culturally clueless aren’t completely clueless.

So while Madison Avenue is undergoing an extreme makeover, why not fight to ensure diversity becomes a part of the foundation? This could be the absolute best possible time imaginable.

Change has come to America. But it took a detour around Madison Avenue. While citizens have adopted phrases like “post-racial,” the advertising industry operates in a pre-Civil Rights time warp. Whenever the topics of diversity and inclusion appear, ad executives consistently display stunning ignorance. MultiCultClassics has sought to address the issues in the past. However, the matters have evolved along with society, despite Madison Avenue’s retarded development. As a public service, this blog will answer a series of Frequently Asked Questions to enlighten the asses… er, masses.

6432: American Idololita.

Kids—Star in a Bedding Experts Commercial. Sounds and looks like potential child pornography.

6431: Making Money In Macho Fashion.

Unoriginal ideas in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• The original Village People cop is suing the current revamped group, demanding that they stop using his voice and likeness. Yeah, you copycat Village People should quit impersonating a fake policeman.

• Mickey D’s continues to enjoy how the economy is forcing people worldwide to eat at the fast food joint. The company CEO said, “McDonald’s continues to appeal to customers as we offer high-quality, affordable meal options and unparalleled convenience.” Look for the place to introduce McStimulus Meals.

• General Motors announced plans to cut 10,000 salaried jobs and reduce the remaining executives’ pay. Hey, that’s over 10,000 new customers for Mickey D’s.

6430: NAACP 2.0.

From USA TODAY…

100 years old, NAACP considers its future

By Marisol Bello, USA TODAY

Gloria Briggs never felt much connection to the NAACP until the Seattle school district proposed closing her 12-year-old son’s school this year, one of five closings in minority neighborhoods.

Briggs, 37, joined the Seattle branch of the NAACP to protest, file complaints and make plans to sue.

“I see now why we have the NAACP,” she says. “They were on it, hosting community meetings … They helped pull us together.”

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a powerhouse of the civil rights movement in the past century, is today a triage center for local battles over school inequities, police shootings, racial profiling and rising foreclosures.

Thursday, the organization marks its centennial as it works to remain relevant in the era of the nation’s first black president.

Today, the NAACP has 250,000 paid members and 225,000 donors. At its height in 1964 — 10 years after its landmark case, Brown v. Board of Education, desegregated schools — there were 600,000 members.

“People are ready for us to be fully engaged across the country,” says NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous, who took over in September.

The group is suing 15 banks, alleging that predatory lending that precipitated the foreclosure crisis targeted blacks. It is scrutinizing police shootings in five states, including the killing early New Year’s Day of an unarmed reveler by a transit officer in Oakland.

John Powell of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University says the NAACP needs to consider the mission of one of its founders, W.E.B. Du Bois, who advocated economic rights. “What groups like the NAACP have traditionally done is good, but it is too narrow,” he says. “The world has changed.”

Air Force reservist Nichole King-Campbell, 37, says the Prince George’s County, Md., NAACP is too low-key, surprising because two-thirds of the population is black. It doesn’t even have a website, she says, and hasn’t attracted young people.

“It has a brand,” she says. “It should be a powerful force.”

Chapter President June White Dillard says her group has been active on voter registration and after a police-slaying suspect died in police custody.

Dorothy McClendon, 59, of Gulfport, Miss., is one of four Gulf Coast residents, led by the NAACP, suing HUD for allowing the state to spend some of its federal Katrina funds on rebuilding the Port of Gulfport instead of on poor residents.

McClendon, who is on disability and has an income of $13,200 a year, has been living in a FEMA trailer that will be removed this month.

“The NAACP has a strong voice,” she says, “and it’s going to take something like that for something to happen for us.”

6429: Trust Me, This Show Sucks.

Must retract last week’s prediction that TNT series Trust Me will probably be successful. The latest episode was pathetic. This show really is an outdated, White male perspective on the business—with not very talented White males to boot. All the characters are stereotypical cartoons. The women tend to be sex objects obviously dreamed up by sexist, clueless men. It’s like watching a badly cast, poorly written commercial from a creative team whose strengths lie in print ads. Or store signage. You know you’re in trouble when a program about advertising is less interesting than the advertising interrupting it. To use industry jargon, Trust Me lacks a Big Idea.

6428: BHM 2009.

Honor. Dignity. Value. Pride. Respect. Five things you’ll likely not encounter riding Amtrak.

6427: “I Want You On The Fuckin’ Set!”

Wonder what Christian Bale would say about the professionalism on this shoot?

6426: Simulating The Economy.

Annual losers in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Nissan expects its first annual loss in nine years, prompting the decision to dump 20,000 jobs. Nissan’s tagline is “Shift.” For its workers, it just became “Shaft.”

• Starbucks is introducing its first value menu deal. Can’t wait until they turn the topless mermaid into a critter.

6425: Culturally Clueless FAQs—Number 1.

Change has come to America. But it took a detour around Madison Avenue. While citizens have adopted phrases like “post-racial,” the advertising industry operates in a pre-Civil Rights time warp. Whenever the topics of diversity and inclusion appear, ad executives consistently display stunning ignorance. MultiCultClassics has sought to address the issues in the past. However, the matters have evolved along with society, despite Madison Avenue’s retarded development. As a public service, this blog will answer a series of Frequently Asked Questions to enlighten the asses… er, masses.

Question: Why do all the diversity discussions focus on Blacks—what about Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, People With Disabilities, Gays, Lesbians, Women, Veterans, Older Employees, Pit Bull Lovers, Mutants and The Rest Of Us?

Answer: Get in line. Unfortunately, the deeper you dig into Madison Avenue’s corporate closet, the more skeletons you’ll find. Recent years have seen work and deeds demeaning everyone listed above, including a Jewish creative director allegedly sexually harassed by a neo-Japanese warlord.

Blacks are in the spotlight for a few reasons. First, the group has been officially fighting for change since the 1930s. To understand the details, read Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Jason Chambers. The author presents a fair and frank documentation of events, showing the successes and failures to date. Additionally, the New York City Commission on Human Rights’ latest efforts have been led by New York City Councilman Larry Seabrook and activist Sanford Moore, who are strongly pushing a predominately Black agenda. Finally, attorney Cyrus Mehri is building a class-action lawsuit focused on the inequities Blacks seemingly always face in the ad game.

However, it’s important to realize the real battle is not being waged exclusively for any single group. The Bendick and Egan Economic Consultants, Inc. report stated the following:

Although this paper focuses on African Americans, the same issues of employment bias in the advertising industry simultaneously affect other “outgroups” -- race-ethnic minorities such as Latinos and Asians; women; older workers; persons with disabilities; and even White males who do not share the cultural or stylistic characteristics of the White males who dominate the industry. These other groups would benefit alongside African Americans from a reformed, inclusive advertising industry culture. This broad potential enhances the urgency of addressing the problems raised in this report -- and addressing them in effective ways.

In closing, a recent story published at AdAge.com inspired this comment:

I find a couple of things interesting. To think that addressing the evident discrimination of Blacks in advertising won’t benefit the other discriminatory issues in advertising is naïve. Nearly all of the fights for equality use the struggle of Blacks in history and especially the Civil Rights Movement as their standard. While I applaud the office of Chief Diversity Officer in its motives, I think it is a shame that any company or industry has to have someone in charge of doing what is right by people. The idea of respectful accountability should be a tenet of leadership. Instead, someone has to be paid to make sure that a company is exhausting all recruiting resources to look for the best talent, which, in my opinion, is hiring smart people (they come in all colors, genders, orientations, etc.) with a good work ethic, who never tire of learning. Someone is paid to make sure everyone is treated with respect from recruiting through their tenure with the company. It is a shame that someone has to tell my company we need to pay and promote fairly. It is a shame that the integrity in how we treat each other has to be regulated, mandated and disguised. While we may not have control of ensuring respect in society at large, I would like to think in a corporate structure that respect is such an intrinsic part of the company culture and values, that there is no need for a Chief Diversity Officer. I will go further into diversity blasphemy by stating that I would do away with the word “diversity” and all of the affinity groups having lunch and going to happy hours. My company statement would be simple: “We treat everyone with respect.” This is the plumb line for all we do. It captures every issue of diversity and beyond. It would solve the issue of this group being left out or feeling this or that. Now that this is off my chest, I understand my views are idealistic, but I also know it would work. Who will be the first to make a stand against diversity and promote true respect to the point where a Chief Diversity Officer is a position of the past?

6424: BHM 2009.

One local grocery store projects a BHM message on the screens at check-out registers, saluting Shirley A. Chisholm, the first Black Congresswoman. Upon visiting the chain’s website to learn more, there was only the small, non-clickable banner above. A search of the site using the keywords Black History Month displayed the results below.

6423: Notes From The Diversity Officers Club.

From AdAge.com…

For Diversity Officers, No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Those Struggling to Increase Minority Head Counts Come in for Criticism

By Rupal Parekh

NEW YORK—It’s not easy being a chief diversity officer. Some of the insults hurled at those taking the job have included “pimp,” “Uncle Tom” and “window dressing.” In fact, as the executives themselves note, having a thick skin and a healthy dose of perspective can be essential to the role.

“I don’t see those individuals who say those things standing with me on the front lines,” said Tiffany R. Warren, who recently left her position as a diversity executive at Havas-owned Arnold to take on the newly created role of chief diversity officer at Omnicom Group. “I’m literally on the front lines, and sometimes it’s a lonely place. If there were more of me, maybe we could make more of a difference,” she said.

The ad agencies who’ve hired diversity officers are likely praying that they do figure out a way to make a difference—and quick. Civil-rights attorney Cyrus Mehri is knocking on the door, after all. Last month, he released research in partnership with the NAACP that is believed to be the groundwork for a race-discrimination suit against the ad industry.

Nancy Hill, president-CEO of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, said after reading the report: “The numbers speak for themselves.”

Ask the companies that hired diversity officers—only Interpublic and Omnicom have done so at the holding-company level—and they say the fact that they have appointed chief diversity officers shows their commitment to improving diversity, a massive task that requires sweeping organizational and cultural changes. What’s more, they say, these individuals are responsible for some measurable strides—from rising awareness to rising numbers of minorities in agency ranks.

Making strides
Interpublic Group of Cos., for example, reported to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that between 2004 and 2007, it increased minority head count across various ethnic groups by 25% overall, and by 50% in terms of total “officials and managers.”

Interpublic’s U.S. head count during this period was essentially flat (up 1.5%, or less than 300 people), but it changed the composition of the work force to increase minority professionals and managers by more than 1,000 people. Beyond head count, it points to initiatives such as a two-year multicultural fellowship program, relationships with historically black colleges, minority job fairs, and linking executives’ incentive compensation to how well it is meeting its diversity objectives.

“When I got here, all there was a desk and a chair and a telephone,” said Heide Gardner, Interpublic’s chief diversity officer. Ms. Gardner was plucked for the role by David Bell back in 2003, and these days reports to Interpublic’s chief human resources officer, with a dotted line to Interpublic head Michael Roth.

But the self-reported improvements and the hiring of diversity officers don’t convince critics. Industry observers have pegged such positions as a convenient way for agencies to run interference for criticism. Activist Sanford Moore has gone so far as to publicly label chief diversity officers at agencies and holding companies “pimps,” who amount to nothing more than “window dressing.”

“That type of position is certainly admirable, but it has to be in direct line with the rest of the corporate structure,” said Jason Chambers, associate professor in the department of advertising at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and author of “Madison Avenue and the Color Line: African-Americans in the Advertising Industry.”

“Where are you in the organizational chart? Are you even on it? Who was your appointment made by? If your only role and responsibility is to be the company’s face in the diversity issue of black enterprise … what really are you accomplishing?”

A ‘Band-aid’
In the business world at large, the percentage of folks in chief-diversity-officer roles is growing. More than 20% of the top 50 chief diversity officers report directly to the CEOs or are one-direct report removed, according to Diversity Inc. magazine.

In the case of Adland, chief diversity officer roles are “are a Band-aid over a gaping wound,” said Luke Visconti, the magazine’s co-founder.

“There is no question in my mind about why Cyrus Mehri is coming after the ad agencies,” Mr. Visconti said, noting that ad shops have been absent from Diversity Inc.’s annual ranking of the top 50 most diverse companies, many of which, ironically, coincide with the top 50 advertisers in the country.

Talk to agencies and holding companies and they will concede there there’s much work ahead to boost minorities in the ad business. Still, they are quick to defend themselves too, saying there has been measurable progress in the last few years.

“I feel good about what we have accomplished over the past five years,” said Ms. Gardner. “I don’t think anyone expects that we’re going to go from having the gaps that we do today to closing them overnight. No other industry has done that. “

“We’ve still got a ways to go, but we’re on the right path,” said Sallie Mars, senior VP-director of creative services and director of diversity at Interpublic’s biggest agency network, McCann Erickson. Ms. Mars also chairs the American Association of Advertising Agencies’ diversity committee. In her diversity role, she reports to Marcio Moriera, vice chairman and chief human resources office of McCann Worldgroup. “Where we have made huge inroads are in the areas of awareness and commitment,” Ms. Mars said.

Outreach
To that end, Ms. Mars has set up an “affinity group,” dubbed Mc2 that’s made up of about 75 McCann New York employees who enjoy and want to promote a multicultural workplace. Among other things, the group does community outreach, which largely entails hosting groups of New York City public-school kids for a day of exposure to working in an agency.

“Individuals of color today have so many more choices … if there’s not an affinity group or internal-networking group that might cause that person to go and look for opportunities elsewhere,” said Ms. Warren, who said that attracting the talent is a challenge, but the bigger obstacle is keeping them in the ad business.

Another area she plans to work on is engaging mid- to senior-level executives in the diversity effort. While Omnicom is still working out the details of her newly created role, Ms. Warren reports to counsel. She adds, though, that she didn’t have a direct report to the CEO at Arnold. Of the agencies targeted by the New York City Commission on Human Rights, Arnold was among those that met its hiring goals.

Ms. Warren acknowledges that there are entrenched problems in Adland, but says the entire ad industry doesn’t deserve a black eye. If nothing else, she is convinced that as a black woman, she is proof that it is possible for minority talent to thrive in this business.

“I will never say this industry is racist because I have succeeded and been in this industry for 12 years,” she said. “I came in making $22,000, and what got me through every sort of professional test is that I was so passionate about this business.”

And the criticism?
“I’ve seen a direct impact from the work I can do, and hopefully five years and 10 years from now I can look to those individuals I’ve mentored quietly … and see that they have risen in this industry.”

Contributing: Marissa Miley

6422: Change The Visual.

Carol H. Williams ran an ad saluting President Barack Obama and his family. Dig the concept, but the message could have benefited from an image of the Obamas versus the agency founder.

6421: This Sanford Won’t Take Any Garbage.

From AdAge.com…

Sanford Moore speaks out

For 40 years Sanford Moore has been an advocate for racial parity on Madison Avenue, particularly for African-Americans. He’s been a thorn in the side of the agency structure, a chief cheerleader of government attempts to intervene and a critic of other African-Americans whose methods he doesn’t agree with.

He started out at BBDO in 1969, and left the agency two years later to establish his own consulting firm, which specialized in ethnic marketing. In the late 1970s, he had a stint at Lockhart & Pettus, a black advertising agency. As an independent consultant in the three decades since, Mr. Moore’s interest in civil rights has led him to work with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, as well as Walter Fauntroy and Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress. His lobbying for African- Americans on Madison Avenue laid the groundwork for the Madison Avenue Project, a class-action lawsuit led by Cyrus Mehri and the NAACP. For the past 14 years, he has been a panelist on the KISS-FM radio show, “Week in Review” (where his radio personality is known as Charles W. Etheridge III).

Ad Age: How did the Madison Avenue Project come about?
Mr. Moore: I was introduced to Cyrus Mehri, and I presented the case and supporting documentation. He saw the injustice of the situation and agreed to undertake the effort.

One of the things that Cyrus does in his settlements is that he puts in place certain ongoing mechanisms that monitor where there’s accountability from the top down to change the corporate culture from discrimination and exclusion. I’m not going to be here forever and unfortunately, if I hadn’t gotten this done, Mad Ave would have gotten away scot-free.

Ad Age: What motivates you to take on the industry?
Mr. Moore: I’ve never liked bullies and I don’t like mendacity and obfuscation. Madison Avenue is like a plantation where the slave owners, the heads of the holding companies, benefit from the labor and the profits generated by the slaves and sharecroppers. I’m not finished with them yet! Before it’s over, Madison Avenue will pay the price for its historical discrimination.

Were it not for black consumer spending, many of the icons of the American marketplace would not enjoy the advantages and profits that they do. Black consumers are the profit margin for many of Madison Avenue’s clients, yet Madison Avenue refuses to acknowledge and give the correct value and importance that these consumers play to the overall success of their clients.

Ad Age: You’ve called chief diversity officers “pimps.” Why?
Mr. Moore: Let’s call them diversity parasites. They do nothing to help. If they do any good, where are the black executives in the organizations that they’re hired to? Besides themselves, who else is there?

The diversity officers, I mean they’re window dressing. They don’t have power, they can’t hire. But it’s not just diversity officers. It’s lawyers and diversity consultants and people that feed off of the exclusion to black people. It’s like blood diamonds. These people profit off of the blood that black people have spent trying to break into and achieve success on Madison Avenue. They do nothing to help. They just get paid to run interference, to create meaningless dialogue.

Ad Age: What are you doing these days?
Mr. Moore: I collaborate with the Madison Avenue Project in developing the case. I also bring these issues to the public attention via the radio show that I do. I continue to advocate on behalf of African-Americans and their media with bodies like the New York City Council and also work to bringing this case before other governmental and regulatory bodies.

Ad Age: What keeps you going?
Mr. Moore: I do these things by myself. Nobody pays me. I don’t ask for money. I’m not looking for a job. I’m only interested in the agencies and their clients doing the right thing. I’m interested in black institutions and black people getting parity for the economic contributions they make in terms of their consumer spending. I want to see them get their fair share.

6420: Failure To Connect.

From Adage.com…

Marketers aren’t connecting with African-Americans

RE: “Don’t Bypass African-Americans” (AA, Feb. 2). African-Americans face the same dilemma we’ve always faced in America. The idea that used to permeate America was that we simply were not “worth it” when it came to our humanity. We’ve made immense progress in America, but perhaps the message has transformed into “our dollars are not worth it.” I’ve worked at several agencies, have an M.B.A. in marketing and am currently in a leadership program at a Fortune 10 corporation, so I speak from experience.

Yankelovich produces first-rate studies, but the lack of more fervent research across the board continues to allow lethargic marketers to claim that this segment has assimilated to the point where there is no need for a unique dialogue between brand and customer. I’ve seen the inside of several Fortune 500, 200 and 100 corporations and can candidly say that many times the AA market is not considered at the decision-making table, and when we are, it’s because there’s the lone soldier who is purposefully reminding everyone that we have $1 trillion in buying power.

Typically what I’ve seen are marketing executives who truly don’t have a connection to African-Americans at all, other than the occasional hip-hop song or urban colloquialism. We remain a mystery, and when you factor in budgetary constraints and nonexistent partnerships with African-American agencies or media, it’s easy to understand why there is the claim to not “see” a valid opportunity.

Here are seven suggestions for those who want to ameliorate their marketing efforts: 1) Decide to change. Don’t think about it. 2) Define and develop a process that identifies and measures “opportunity.” 3) Design a framework that has tangible and intangible metrics (not just population growth). 4) Collaborate with various centers of excellence. 5) Ask what you do not know and let your partners dream with you/for you. 6) Prioritize initiatives and test everything, because the most valuable connections are the ones that are hardest to see. 7) Lastly, take action and get connected.

Noble L. Woods
M.B.A. Leadership Program associate
Charlotte, N.C.

6419: Time To Jump The Shark.

Desperate times in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Toyota is driving toward its first annual net loss since 1950. Wasn’t that the fictional year Fonzie jumped the shark?

• Employers cut 598,000 jobs in January, the highest total since 1974. Three years before the actual time Fonzie jumped the shark.

• Christians are complaining about the sexuality in the recent Super Bowl ads for GoDaddy.com, and a company that manages hosting services for a group of churches claims at least 60 clients have requested removing their sites from GoDaddy.com. “They have to be careful. I think they definitely crossed the line in this case,” said the owner of the company working for the churches. “It seems that the GoDaddy President seems like a bit of a sex addict or pervert.” Upon this rock I will not build my church website…?

6418: Go Medieval On Your Family’s Ass.

Adults & Kids FREE. Um, whom does that leave—embryos and cadavers?

6417: Taco Bell Crosses The Border.

From The Chicago Tribune…

Taco Bell in Mexico? Why not? It’s not Mexican food there either

By Oscar Avila

APODACA, Mexico—Leaving the taco shop, I might have assumed that familiar weight in my gut was a sign of gastrointestinal distress to come. But it was probably guilt, guilt that I had bypassed one of many mama-y-papa taquerias and instead chosen the first Taco Bell to open in Mexico after a 15-year absence.

There are all kinds of ways to illustrate our intertwined world: pirated Ashton Kutcher DVDs in Nairobi, Snickers bars for sale in the Amazon rain forest. But one could argue that on the day this Taco Bell went up next to a Dairy Queen in the parking lot of a glitzy shopping mall in the Monterrey suburbs, the cultural walls fell for good.

Since opening in the United States in the 1960s, Taco Bell has taught Americans the Mexican art of cramming stuff in tortillas. Now they’re on the menu everywhere from school cafeterias to McDonald’s drive-throughs. You might not know Spanish, but you know “taco.”

To scarf down a Fiesta Burrito in Mexico felt like patronizing a Panda Express at the foot of the Great Wall. You wouldn’t think of chugging Natural Light at Oktoberfest in Munich. Or sneaking out of the Cannes Film Festival to catch “Transformers.” But, out of curiosity, I gave it a try.

The Mexican intelligentsia were offended by Taco Bell’s incursion in 2007, casting it as something akin to the Visigoths sacking Rome. “Like bringing ice to the Arctic,” sniffed cultural critic Carlos Monsivais in an Associated Press article.

I’m sure many Mexican arbiters of taste haven’t forgotten the talking Taco Bell Chihuahua, which was denounced by Hispanic advocacy groups in the United States as a crude stereotype with its sombrero and accented “Yo quiero Taco Bell” pitch.

For the rest of us, the global sensibility of the 21st Century can be a messy, tacky and gaudy mash-up, not unlike the guacamole, sour cream and other mysterious goop of a Nachos BellGrande.

A food writer at Monterrey’s El Norte newspaper summed up the conflicting emotions many Mexicans must feel at Taco Bell’s take on traditional Mexican cuisine.

“What foolish gringos. They want to come by force to sell us tacos in Taco Land,” he wrote. “Here, they have a year in operation and the most ironic part is that they are doing well. Are we malinches [Mexican slang for traitor] or masochists?”

Then he tried it and confessed: “It surprised me. It is very well-designed, very modern, as cheap as ever and, it hurts my pride to say this, but very delicious!”

To its credit, Taco Bell’s parent company in Louisville never sold its food to Mexicans as Mexican. Taco Bell’s Mexican Web site is www.esotracosa.com. Translation: It’s something else.

Upon entering the Taco Bell, the customer gets a menu, complete with pictures and detailed lists of ingredients. If this presentation is to be taken at face value, the cuisine at Taco Bell is as foreign to its Mexican customers as Mongolian barbecue.

I had a crunchy taco that the company couldn’t call a taco because an authentic taco in Mexico comes in a soft tortilla. Instead, Taco Bell invented the term Tacostada for its Mexican audience by combining the shape of a taco with the crunchiness of the flat tortilla that characterizes the tostada.

My meal was decent, but, truth is, I’ll always be drawn to the street stalls and holes in the wall that represent the best of Mexican cuisine: the tender meat hacked directly off a lamb’s skull in Texcoco, the carnitas tacos on the side of a highway near Morelia.

Still, Taco Bell should not be viewed as a hostile invader. It is a neighbor, grudgingly invited, but invited nonetheless. Mexican tradition and culture already have seeped into the U.S. mainstream—consider this a lob back across the Rio Grande.

As I devoured a burrito and watched music videos from U2 and Julieta Venegas with my fellow citizens of the global village, Taco Bell’s old tag line seemed obsolete.

“Run for the Border”? What border?

6416: BHM 2009.

Crayola presents BHM activities via its online calendar, including printable coloring images of prominent Black icons. Guess you’ll need a box of the items below.

6415: Smallville Requires Small Talent.

Smallville is casting—no experience needed. Um, isn’t that a given?

6414: Forget Baby Whales—Save The Raptors.

Saving American jobs is becoming an act of aggression.

6413: BHM 2009.

The Chicago Tribune tribute to BHM presents online stories, columns and more.

6412: Formula For Success.

F1 Racing magazine dedicated an issue to Lewis Hamilton and his 2008 Formula 1 World Championship, along with a series of congratulatory ads from sponsors. Wonder if any of the concepts came from an Omnicom shop.

6411: ABAA Should Know ANA Means ASS.

The letter below was posted at The Big Tent. It is immediately followed by commentary from MultiCultClassics.

Association of Black-Owned Advertising Agencies Challenges ANA
An Open Letter to the Association of National Advertisers

By Eugene Morris and Howard Buford

The Association of Black-Owned Advertising Agencies (ABAA) is requesting a meeting with senior leadership of the ANA in order to open a substantive dialogue about how to bring Black-owned agencies into the mainstream.

We are the only organization representing the interests of Black-owned agencies. Since the 1960s, our membership has engaged in a relentless uphill battle to be included in the business paradigm of the marketing industry. In the wake of the groundbreaking Bendick & Egan study about discrimination in the advertising industry and as representatives of leading advertisers, ANA should take a leadership role in the development of solutions to cause major changes in this industry. Our voice is certainly one that needs to be heard. ABAA’s membership is ready to establish a partnership with ANA to lead this effort.

As “the only trade organization exclusively for client-side marketers, providing indispensable business insights, extensive opportunities and strong industry advocacy” you will appreciate the following:

• Most ABAA members began their careers as employees of general market agencies.
• Most of us excelled as marketers, producing substantial profits for these agencies.
• As a rule, we were treated as unwanted foster children subject to the “pervasive bias” described in the Bendick & Egan study.
• Most of us were motivated to start our firms as a direct result of our disheartening experiences.
• With notable exceptions, we found potential clients (many of them ANA members) typically uninterested in retaining our services.
• Again with notable exceptions, when we were retained, we were usually paid far less than industry standard and required to do far more to get and retain the business.
• Just as discrimination in agency hiring has not improved over the years, neither has the situation for Black-owned agencies.

The Bendick-Egan study calls for clients to demand inclusive employment practices on the part of their agencies, citing the fact that many of the major firms are “already publicly committed to equal employment opportunity in all aspects of their operations, including their procurement of services from firms such as advertising agencies.”

A cursory review of the top 200 megabrands indicates that most have never utilized the services of a Black-owned agency. This is despite the fact that blacks are a large and growing segment of the population and are thus major contributors to the profitability of virtually every brand! They are consistently unique in their consumer preferences and behaviors.

If your members are truly committed, they need to not only encourage their agencies to improve hiring practices, they need to practice diversity in the awarding of brand assignments. Ask yourselves why it is that general market agencies are routinely given assignments targeting Black consumers while Black-owned agencies are routinely deemed incapable of developing campaigns for any segment other than Black. Additionally, in most cases when we are given assignments, we are placed in minimal roles that don’t provide us with adequate resources or authority to help brands “move the needle” with Black consumers.

The inaugural activities of Jan. 20, 2009, provided a compelling example of cultural inclusion. It was a snapshot of the new America, one that is evolving to embrace ALL of America and all it has to offer future generations.

Black-owned agencies represent a valuable but overlooked resource. We have talent, experience and a proven track record of achieving sales results. The uniqueness of our American experience makes us sharply attuned to the culture and lifestyle nuances that characterize many different consumer segments. We are also eminently efficient and flexible due to the business constraints under which we have always had to operate. It would seem that, in today’s hugely competitive global marketplace, any client would welcome the opportunity to access the best ideas and talent, regardless of the source.

ABAA offers new insights to an industry that is still mired in 1960’s values. It’s time to join the audacious bandwagon of the 21st century.

Eugene Morris
Chairman

and

Howard Buford
Vice Chairman

There are a few things screwy with this scenario. Apologies in advance for anyone about to be offended.

First, the Association of Black-Owned Advertising Agencies is a misnomer of sorts. Upon last inspection—and the organization’s website doesn’t appear to be allowing fresh inspections—the ABAA boasted ten member agencies. And the top Black shops (at least in terms of billing) were not among them. What’s up with that? Before you seek the alliance of the Association of National Advertisers, perhaps it would help to recruit the majority of minorities comprising the niche. The lack of unity looks bad.

But that’s not the worst of it.

Why the hell is the ABAA reaching out to the ANA? Um, the shoe that’s been pressing on your neck for decades is the size 29 triple E of Ronald McDonald—and he’s backed by all the ANA co-conspirators. In short, the advertisers have been extraordinarily responsible for holding down Black agencies. Procter & Gamble & Everyone Else are completely aware of the inequities. These corporations helped create and perpetuate the silos, as well as the stereotypes. Once a year they will smile and hand out Multicultural Excellence Awards, but that’s the extent of their generosity. Your clients are cutting your budgets, ABAA. They’re also reducing the budgets of the leading Black agencies.

The ABAA would be better served writing letters to elected officials, including President Barack Obama, who just signed a bill for equal pay. And if the ANA does grant a meeting, make sure you bring Cyrus Mehri.

6410: BHM 2009.

Don’t know if it was a faulty Internet connection, but the audio for this Alltel BHM promotion was terrible. Maybe things will sound clearer once Verizon completely takes over.

6409: Monster Losses.

Cutting remarks in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Japan’s Panasonic announced plans to cut 15,000 jobs. Damn, that total exceeds the number of casualties inflicted by Mothra, Ghidra and Godzilla combined.

• Burger King reported 2Q profits fell, and its advertising agency, CP+B, announced it laid off 60 staffers. Guess the Whopper Virgins weren’t impressed enough to spike sales.

• Mastercard reported 4Q profits declined 21 percent. Priceless.

6408: WTF AEF.

A special advertising section in the latest issue of Adweek spotlights the Advertising Educational Foundation. The insert presents an AEF initiative to create “the definitive online exhibition to depict how race and ethnicity have shaped the development of advertising over the course of the 20th century.”

AEF CEO Paula Alex remarked, “Arguably, advertising reinforced many social prejudices. Yet at later times, advertising has also helped depict a more inclusive nation.”

Yo, girlfriend, it’s still reinforcing social prejudices. And it never managed to inspire a more inclusive industry. Somebody needs to educate the Advertising Educational Foundation.

6407: BHM 2009.

Grey Goose goes Black with free movies.

6406: PR Firm Should Work On Its Hype.

When did Edelman start believing it could do more than type press releases? The job listing below seeks a Presentation Director/PowerPoint Design Guru! First of all, PowerPoint Design Guru is an oxymoron. And only a PR wonk would see the need for a dedicated staffer to produce meeting decks. A quick peek at the Edelman website clearly shows the problem is not with design, but rather, with content. There’s too much of it—and none of it is even remotely interesting. Hell, the job listing continues the tendency towards loads of noise sans style or substance.

Presentation Director/PowerPoint Design Guru!

Description:
Communications leader, Edelman, is looking for a high impact presentation expert to round out our award-winning design team in the US! We are looking for a talented presentation director to join our Creative team to revolutionize high end presentations, intertwine our corporate strategy in this medium, and lead a team of innovative specialists across the US.

We are seeking someone who excels at brand development and possesses the innate ability to take creative concepts from conception to reality. This person must thrive on the challenge of developing a continuous stream of fresh design ideas for some of the world’s largest brands. If you’re creative, organized, and can flourish in an energetic, fast-paced entrepreneurial environment, this could be the position for you!

Qualifications and Responsibilities of the Presentation Director
This person will be responsible for managing a team of presentation specialists focused primarily on design of top tier clients and new business presentations – continually striving to take the medium to the next level. The ideal candidate will have experience working closely with art directors, agency creative planners and account teams to create high-end presentations. Ideal candidate should have experience with traditional print such as designing ads, print collateral, web site design and video production. The candidate responsibilities and qualifications should include:

•First and foremost an expert, power user and creative designer in PowerPoint
•Second, the ability to translate the established design into other formats including Microsoft Word
•Experience with establishing brand identity for new or emerging brands
•An energetic and compelling presentation style – comfortable in group settings with top notch presentation skills
•Experience using Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator
•7 to 10 years’ design experience
•Show consistent initiative and takes ownership of projects – showing excellent judgment when working with team member, client contact, and vendors
•Experience managing/art directing a dynamic staff
•Ability to prioritize and manage work, adhering to critical project timelines in a fast-paced environment
•Able to create templates and automate system processes, as well as lead presentation trainings, as required
•Knowledge of Adobe flash and with animation/motion graphics (Adobe After Effects) a bonus
•Experience creating web design, interactive, HTML programming, animation and 3d modeling and any other high-end presentation programs an added bonus
•The ideal candidate will have a BFA in Graphic Design or related creative medium and have strong typographic design

6405: Tongue Thai.

Skittles has been producing extraordinarily quirky commercials for a while now. Not sure what to make of ”Reflect The Rainbow,” but it seems to take wrong cultural turns. At the same time, it’s so bizarre, even those normally quick to protest are too perplexed to complain in earnest.

6404: Staying For Breakfast.

Hotcakes and sausages in a MultiCultClassics Monologue.

• The Hawaiian Tropic Zone in New York is closing down for a lengthy renovation project, with management insisting the timing is not related to the recent news of discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuits from female employees. An executive said, “It’s been two years and we’ve had close to a half-million people here. We’re going to use the opportunity to spruce the place up a little bit.” And probably hose the place down to destroy any possible evidence of sexual misconduct.

• About 2 million people took advantage of the Denny’s Free Breakfast promotion on Tuesday. “We’re re-acquainting America with Denny’s,” said the restaurant chain’s CEO. “We’ve never been thanked this much—and folks are saying they’ll come back.” Right. Only if the waitresses are replaced by Hawaiian Tropic Zone castoffs.

6403: Culturally Clueless? Click Here Now.

It’s not too late to enroll for Carmen Van Kerckhove’s five-part tele-course titled:

Diversity Career Success:
How to Take Your Organization From Culturally Clueless to Diversity Dynamo
(and Skyrocket Your Own Career While You’re At It)

It all begins February 5—that’s tomorrow for the calendar clueless.

Now, it’s possible that some of you are thinking, “Oh, it’s not for me. The program is intended for HR Directors and Chief Diversity Officers.”

Technically, you’re right. But you also know that in the advertising industry, final hiring decisions are rarely made by HR Directors or Chief Diversity Officers (no offense to the individuals in those roles). So it’s not completely fair to put all the diversity responsibility on them. But who should sign up to connect with Carmen?

If you’re wondering if you should attend the tele-course, click here now.

If you’re an advertising executive with hiring authority, click here now.

If you’re tied in any way, shape or form to the advertising agencies that signed diversity pacts with New York City’s Commission on Human Rights, click here now.

If you’re associated with Omnicom, click here now.

If you’re from Merkley + Partners, you’d better click here now.

If the majority of minorities at your shop are mailroom attendants, security, receptionists or janitors, click here now.

If you think a $297 investment is more affordable than the amount Cyrus Mehri is seeking, click here now.

If you want to help solve a problem that has plagued the advertising industry since at least 1930, click here now.

6402: Gut Check.

Make up your minds, ladies—do you want to get rid of your fat belly or not?

6401: BHM 2009.

Nationwide lets you create your own family journal, recording your family history. Hey, somebody should record Nationwide’s history.

6400: Trust Me, It’s Subliminal Advertising.

The truth is, TNT series Trust Me will probably be successful—albeit for most of the odd reasons that TV shows gain success. The program features popular and attractive actors. The writing is solid, although hardly stellar. And there’s a decent balance of comedy, drama and gratuitous sex.

At the same time, there are elements of Trust Me that could technically be categorized as subliminal advertising. Wikipedia posted the following definition:

A subliminal message is a signal or message embedded in another medium, designed to pass below the normal limits of the human mind’s perception. These messages are unrecognizable by the conscious mind, but in certain situations can affect the subconscious mind and can negatively or positively influence subsequent later thoughts, behaviors, actions, attitudes, belief systems and value systems.

So what’s subliminal about Trust Me? Well, it involves the hidden messages that the series’ creators might not even be aware of. In short, Trust Me broadcasts the advertising industry’s dirty little secrets surrounding workplace discrimination.

In the first episode, for example, new copywriter Sarah Krajicek-Hunter sought to get her old job back at the DDB agency. It had been established that she is an award-winning copywriter who nabbed Clios for her Bud Light commercials (it’s a bold stretch, incidentally, given the real-life account’s notorious reputation as a Boy’s Club). Yet when Krajicek-Hunter met with her former boss, he rudely proclaimed she was a pain-in-the-ass employee with high-maintenance tendencies. Did viewers perceive the sexist, misogynistic components? Hey, the male creatives provide indisputable evidence that high-maintenance personalities are the norm. Tom Cavanagh’s character, Conner, is a whiny prima donna who has seemingly zero trophies to justify his ego. The creative director who died in the premiere episode was a raging lunatic. And the brash Young Turk team has not displayed the skills to handle a standard FSI. Of course, the men are completely accepted in the business. An award-winning female, on the other hand, must be replaced by “someone I don’t hate.” Translation: The boss will bring in an insufferable dude clone. And let’s not discuss how Krajicek-Hunter’s demands for a window office—part of her employment agreement—are virtually ignored by management.

This week’s episode unveiled a second instance of cloaked reality. When Conner stole the tagline of an entry-level art director, Mason McGuire cooked up the “obvious” solution: Offer the cub creative a job. Now, it was clear that McGuire and Conner didn’t view the art director as qualified. In fact, they intensely disliked him, referring to the guy as a douche. Additionally, Conner’s boss stated the agency had freezes on salaries, which are usually attached to hiring restrictions. However, they didn’t hesitate to recruit the moron to simply avoid looking stupid. This demonstrates a different advertising industry crime that the creators might not have intended to reveal. That is, people are hired for all sorts of reasons, few of which are rooted in a candidate’s abilities. Madison Avenue executives love to boast about exacting standards of excellence when selecting staffers. But it’s just a bunch of bullshit. You can land a position for a variety of asinine excuses—and your chances of winning the gig are significantly improved if you’re a young, White male. Did the show’s creators knowingly inject the actual communication in the scenario? Doubt it.

The hot TNT series is produced by two male ex-employees from Leo Burnett in Chicago—a totally stereotypical shop in regards to diversity practices (i.e., it’s an Ivory Tower with Color Lines and Glass Ceilings built on a Culturally Clueless Foundation). Creative consultants include more adpeople. Hence, it’s safe to say the show reflects the visions, experiences and attitudes of run-of-the-mill agency executives. In contrast to NBC’s The Office or AMC’s Mad Men, Trust Me is not blatant in its biased depictions. Are the creators consciously exposing the industry’s ugliness? Is there calculated awareness of the disclosures? Bet on the likelihood they think it’s absolutely hunky-dory, cool and awesome.

Trust Me unconsciously pushes workplace discrimination as comedic entertainment. That’s as subliminal as erotic images on ice cubes, folks.

6399: What’s Out.

Toying with the news in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Ty Incorporated is shelving its dolls inspired by Sasha and Malia Obama, despite the company’s insistence the toys were not modeled after the girls. First Lady Michelle Obama officially dissed the dolls last month. The Ty website now lists Sweet Sasha and Marvelous Malia as retired, while eBay offered the duo at up to $100. Look for replacement dolls Bold Barack and Magnificent Michelle to debut soon.

• Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was released from prison after serving 99 days for lying during a 2007 whistle-blowers’ trial. A spokesman said Kilpatrick is scheduled for a job interview in Texas on Wednesday. Wonder how he’ll explain the 99-day hole in his résumé.

6398: Flow With Change.

Obamania is getting out of control.

6397: BHM 2009.

Macy’s salutes Black vendors, announces Black-focused events, celebrates diversity and encourages Blacks to apply for a position—despite the fact that the retailer hasn’t been in the black for many fiscal quarters.

6396: On Madison Avenue, Mafiosa Are A Hit.

Last week at The Big Tent, complaints about Italian-American stereotypes in a Verizon Wireless spot led to stereotypical arguments. The offended were accused of being too PC. Too liberal. Too oversensitive. They were told to lighten up—and were even branded as chimp-screaming bigots. Why, there was nothing to be upset about in the commercial. Italian Americans are not the victims of stereotyping.

A few days later, we have Denny’s Super Bowl spot titled, “Thugs.”

Perhaps the culturally clueless morons should be fitted for cement shoes. Or maybe their Mad Ave bosses could attempt to recondition them via Carmen Van Kerckhove’s Diversity Tele-Course. At only $297, it’s an offer you can’t refuse.

6395: Wheeling And Dealing.

Driving out of business with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Toymaker Mattel reported 4Q profits dropped 46 percent, with Barbie sales down 21 percent and Hot Wheels falling 22 percent. Wonder if Hot Wheels will join General Motors and Chrysler for federal bailout money.

• Macy’s announced it will dump 7,000 workers, cut capital spending, stop contributing to employees’ retirement funds and reduce its dividend. The retailer’s CEO said, “We just believe that this is a time when nothing should be considered a sacred cow.” Sound like a bunch of cow dung.

6394: BHM Blurb.

From USA TODAY…

Black History Month has added meaning in 2009

By Rebecca Kern, USA TODAY

Frederick Barron, 17, a senior at North Atlanta High School in Atlanta, says the election of Barack Obama as the first African-American president is making Black History Month come to life.

“Barack Obama is opening our hearts and minds to the true meaning of Black History Month,” Barron said. “African Americans won’t be viewed as just a minority but as people who make a difference.”

Obama’s election, and this year’s 100th anniversary of the NAACP, means there has probably never been more reason to celebrate the annual February observance, black leaders and historians say.

“We celebrate whenever a glass ceiling is broken and the presidency may be the highest glass ceiling,” said Benjamin Todd Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, which is celebrating its 1909 founding this year.

But those leaders also agree those milestones don’t mean that racial inequalities no longer exist. While Obama’s breaking of the color barrier in the White House may make the NAACP’s job easier, Jealous said they will pressure Obama just as they have past presidents.

“We won’t be post-racial until we are post-racism,” Jealous said.

Gerald Early, a professor of African American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, said that Obama’s election should not be viewed as the end of racism, but “should be taught as an event that signaled a new era in American race relations.”

“With Obama as president, I think people are more optimistic about race relations than they’ve been in a long time,” he said.

This optimism is seen in Black History Month celebrations planned throughout this month in the 1,700 local NAACP units and hundreds of primary, secondary and university campuses nationwide.

This year’s Black History Month theme is “The Quest for Citizenship in the Americas,” determined by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, said Daryl Scott, vice president for programs.

Stephanie Smith Budhai, 23, head of the University of Maryland’s Black History Month Committee, said the theme correlates well with Obama’s presidency.

“Barack Obama shows that (African Americans’) citizenship is just as important as the citizenship of any other ethnicity or race,” she said.

6393: Overreaction Of The Week.

Why is the Bud Clydesdale obsessed over a White female horse?

6392: BHM 2009.

Wells Fargo salutes BHM with royalty-free stock photography.

6391: Dozing Thomas.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas appears to be dozing off during President Barack Obama’s historic speech.

6390: Diversity Help Is Just A Phone Call Away.

On February 5—that’s this Thursday—Carmen Van Kerckhove launches her five-part tele-course titled:

Diversity Career Success:
How to Take Your Organization From Culturally Clueless to Diversity Dynamo
(and Skyrocket Your Own Career While You’re At It)

If you’re involved with your company’s diversity initiatives—or you just want to gain enlightenment—you should check out the program.

If you’re from Madison Avenue, you definitely must enroll. For generations, advertising executives have been phoning it in when dealing with diversity. Now you can phone it in and actually make progress. You’ll pick up the knowledge and insights you need to achieve success—and avoid looking like these guys or looking at this guy.

To learn more, click here now.

6389: Invisible Market Worth $913 Billion.

Advertising Age is presenting a series of articles for Black History Month. Here’s the first installment.

Don’t Bypass African-Americans
Marketers Make Mistake by Failing to Expressly Target Nearly $1 Trillion Market

By Marissa Miley

NEW YORK -- In 2008, the country’s top marketers tapped Barack Obama as Marketer of the Year. Many of those same marketers also cut spending directed at the African-American market.

With advertisers chasing after niche markets such as mommy bloggers on tools such as Twitter, a “niche” worth $913 billion would seem the sort of market companies would be stumbling over each other to get to. Yet the African-American market has to continually make the case that it’s a segment worth understanding, and one worth a dedicated portion of the ad budget.

African-Americans—and the African-American market—were surpassed in the past five years by the growing Hispanic sector, leading many marketers and the media to focus intently on the “next big thing” in the minority sector. According to Nielsen, total spending in Spanish-language media in the first three quarters of 2008 was $4.3 billion, up 2.7% from the year before. Total spending on African-American media in that time period was $1.8 billion, down 5.3% from the same period in 2007. (Procter & Gamble was the largest spender in both categories.)

Still, the African-American segment has buying power of $913 billion, according to 2008 data from the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia. That’s why African-American marketing experts are flummoxed that there is an implied question floating around the C-suites in the U.S.: Why bother targeting the demographic specifically?

Sales to be made
Putting aside high-minded issues such as diversity and multiculturalism, the simple answer is: to make money.

“It makes sense to address 40 million people who are African-American if you want to capture their consumer behavior,” said Alfred Liggins, president-CEO of Radio One, pointing out that marketers frequently target niche consumer segments such as new moms, outdoor enthusiasts and foodies. “Why is it an issue when you say that black people are a niche?”

The justifications marketers use are many, particularly in a recession: Targeting African-Americans costs too much; it takes dollars away from general marketing; it does not add value. On a recent industry panel, Steve Stoute, founder-CEO of consulting/branding firm Translation, suggested some brands do well with African-Americans precisely because they don’t market to the segment and are therefore seen as aspirational. (Mr. Stoute declined to participate in this story.)

Another justification: “They speak English, don’t they?” mocked Pepper Miller, president of Hunter-Miller Group, an African-American market research and consulting firm. She said marketers typically have this reaction because of the significant growth of the Latino market over the past couple of decades.

“That growth has become a catalyst for corporate America to embrace language as a cultural identifier, not race,” she said. It’s easier, she said, to make the case that a group speaking a different language deserves a unique type of marketing.

African-Americans, on the other hand, because they share a common language with white America, are assumed to share the same culture and same interests. Why bother with the research and expense when you can just recycle general-market advertising and maybe throw in a couple of black actors?

‘Profitability and buy-ability’
“Step one is to recognize both the profitability and buy-ability of these market groups,” said Jason Chambers, author of “Madison Avenue and the Color Line.”

Of course, there are some marketers who recognize that. And perhaps it’s no coincidence that they are among the most successful brands in the U.S.

Najoh Tita-Reid, former director of multicultural marketing at Procter & Gamble, took the lead on the company’s “My Black Is Beautiful” effort before leaving the company last month. She pointed to McDonald’s and State Farm Insurance as two large corporations that have invested in the African-American market and met success.

“Do you believe one size fits all?” asked Carol Sagers, director-marketing at McDonald’s USA.

“Intuitively, you don’t.”

“African-Americans have nuances in lifestyle and nuances in language and culture that should be used to leverage communication,” she said. “McDonald’s believes in speaking to all our customers, and speaking to them directly.”

African-American and beyond
By speaking to African-Americans, marketers can enhance their positioning in the general market as well—especially considering how much of mainstream pop-culture gets its start in the African-American community.

For example, Ms. Tita-Reid said McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It” campaign was rooted in hip-hop culture, but had messaging that transcended race and ethnicity and gained popularity around the world. “It’s worth leading with African-American insights,” Ms. Miller said. “When companies use these insights to develop their marketing strategies, communication strategies [and] media plans, they have the most effective strategies not only reaching African-Americans, but the general market as well.”

State Farm has experienced this with its “50 Million Pound Challenge,” a sponsored weight-loss effort that began in the African-American community. Since the program launched in April 2007, one million Americans have lost 3.5 million pounds.

“It now has a life of its own,” said Pamela El, VP-marketing for State Farm. “All races and ethnicities have joined the challenge.”

“We know through research ... that a way to connect to a different customer is to emotionally connect first and help with that community.”

In the pudding
The Selig Center estimates that black buying power will rise to $1.2 trillion in 2013 -- and that this number will translate to nearly 9% of the nation’s estimated buying power. “Why people continue to question this customer segment continues to baffle me,” said Mr. Chambers. “The proof is there.”

Of course, treating a market knocking on $1 trillion as one cohesive niche is over-simplifying things—similar to making broad generalizations about Hispanics just because they speak Spanish. Yet it’s another mistake commonly made when marketers do target African-Americans.

“We have never been a homogenous market,” Ms. Miller said. “But we have never been as different and segmented as we are today.”

Last June, Mr. Liggins’ Radio One—the largest African-American broadcasting company, which includes TV One, Interactive One and Giant Magazine—sponsored a black segmentation study by consumer-research firm Yankelovich. The study, called Black America Today, was the largest of its kind. It surveyed 3,400 African-Americans and identified 11 different consumer segments, ranging from “digital networkers” to “broadcast blacks,” each group with its own diverse preferences and needs. Digital networkers tend to be in their 20s and are heavy users of social-networking sites, whereas broadcast blacks are significantly less tech-savvy and rely more on TV and radio.

“I define African-Americans as a fast-growing, emerging market inside a mature market in the U.S.,” Mr. Liggins said. “There is still more opportunity in the U.S. market to tap.”

Reaching segments
Companies need to research the different segments and understand how to efficiently reach each one. Research, though, is neither free nor easy—especially for the ad agencies and research firms who aren’t exactly exemplars of racial diversity. “Marketers need to ask questions and listen,” said Ms. Miller. “It we are segmented more, and if niche marketing is the new ideal, then why aren’t we going after these [segments]?”

One way to tap into these segments is to target black media. The Black America Today study found that on average, African-Americans are more than twice as likely to trust black media over mainstream media. Also, 81% of all African-Americans ages 13 to 74 watch black-interest TV channels weekly and 68% are online, about the same percentage of Americans as a whole.

But Ms. Sagers cautions against marketing to African-Americans exclusively on black media.

“African-American media suppliers are very important, but so are all other media suppliers,” she said. African-Americans consume a lot of different media, and in order to connect with the black community, “Creative has to touch a nerve,” she said.

“There is still money left on the table if [marketers] don’t equally invest in the research and insights to obtain market share from this still large, growing and trendsetting consumer group,” Ms. Tita-Reid said.

Many feel that while there have been visible improvements in race-based marketing over the years, a number of challenges that impede further progress stem from a lack of diversity within corporations themselves.

“It’s easy to get left out of the dialogue,” said Mr. Liggins.

Still, he added that for as many marketers that don’t get it, there are those that do. Since the publication of Black America Today, Mr. Liggins has presented to Apple, Unilever and General Mills, among others, and believes that by educating marketers about his findings, more marketers will see the business value of marketing to the African-American community.

6388: BHM 2009.

This BHM ad has been running so long, these kids have probably already graduated from college—thanks to the United Negro College Fund and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

6387: Advertising Black History Month.

New America Media claims in the story below that many advertisers plan to commemorate Black History Month. This would seemingly contradict the Nielsen report showing Black media spending dropped 5.3 percent. Based on a review of Black publications so far, it actually looks like there are fewer BHM ads than usual. Haven’t even spotted a Black inventors message yet. But the month is young.

Advertisers Prepare for Black History Month Celebration

The Washington Informer

COLUMBUS, O.H. - The United States is in the midst of a recession. Whereas some corporations are begging for bailout money, others are shutting down stores, and many are slashing their advertising budgets. Despite this, many Fortune 500 companies have not dropped their plans to be a part of black history in 2009.

The reason why: Barack Obama’s January inauguration has a lot of people excited about the biggest moment in black history. Conveniently, his inauguration will be held on Jan. 20 - just 11 days before Black History Month begins.

Representatives at major companies like Coca-Cola, Nationwide Insurance, McDonald’s and KFC have already confirmed that they plan to launch huge advertising campaigns to commemorate African-American accomplishments.

Lee Moss Media, a media powerhouse that owns several popular African-American Web sites, is reporting that they have already locked in Wal-Mart and Alltel Wireless as exclusive sponsors for BlackHistory.com.

“It’s very impressive to me that these companies have decided to keep their Black History Month ad campaigns, despite budget cuts,” says Will Moss, co-founder of Lee Moss Media. “African-American consumers will respond favorably to these brands because this upcoming February will be the most important Black History Month celebration of all time.”

In previous years, companies have spent an estimated $1 billion in print, radio, TV and online advertising for Black History Month. February 2009 spending is expected to be lower, but not significantly so. Interestingly enough, many of the advertisers want their campaigns to start early in January to coincide with the Presidential Inauguration and Martin Luther King Day.